Unto the Open Sky
by heartofShou
Summary: Alternate-Universe. A lonely boy named Roxas stumbles across the latest national craze and finds that there is a secret behind the game than no one could have guessed. Inspired by Angelic Layer.
1. Pleased to Meet You: Sora!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own _Kingdom Hearts_, its characters, its plot, etc. The same goes for the game _Tales of Symphonia_. Disney characters obviously don't belong to me either. The series,_Angelic Layer_, is also copyrighted.

SPOILER WARNING: Despite being AU, any material within the three _Kingdom Hearts_ games and _Tales of Symphonia_ can be referred to at any time. Also, note, possible spoilers for the _Angelic Layer_ anime.

NOTE: Though this story is largely based on _Angelic Layer_, it is not simply the series rewritten with KH characters. This does have its own plot, but do not be surprised if the two strongly correlate.

* * *

_**Unto the Open Sky**_

"_I've been wondering why_

_It's only me._

_Have you always been inside_

_Waiting to breathe?"_

- Ryan Cabrera, **On the Way Down**

* * *

_**Chapter One**_: Pleased to Meet You-Sora!

* * *

It seemed like all his life he had been watching the world through a glass pane. His eyes and that big, wide open sky may share the same hue, but they did not share that same sense of freedom. The rumbling of metal wheels running over train tracks proved that he was moving, but he was still trapped in this aluminum shack of a cage.

Not that the train wasn't nice.

Of course it was nice.

Roxas had a first class ticket upon one of the finest examples of technological transportation. People would figuratively, "give up an arm and a leg" to enjoy their trip in such luxury. Yet here he was- surrounded by carpeted floors, walkways big enough for two, leather seats, temperature control, complimentary snacks, television monitors, and enough room between each chair so as to recline comfortably- and all he did was clutch at his backpack and stare out the window. Roxas kept his wide blue eyes trained on the sky as though willing himself to be out of this body and into a place with no bars or windows. The only thing that would keep him grounded was the tight grip he kept on that green bag.

* * *

"_Ah, Roxas," the raspy voice of his father called from the stuffed chair. The room was so dark and Roxas glanced at the closed curtains. The rooms were always dark, his father's face always shadowed, and Roxas was always left to wonder if perhaps there was something to hide after all. "Come in, come in." That fake smile upon his lips, his father beckoned him with a gloved hand to come closer. _

_His mouth sealed tight, Roxas went to him obediently. His father would do this sometimes, request a private audience with him and act out a chat that felt neither real nor natural. Roxas would keep his mouth shut and nod when he had to. Every time he did this though he got the wild thought that he was meant to kneel at this man's feet. _

"_Have you enjoyed your time here, Roxas?" the man's eyes glittered up at his son. The tone was mildly interested as he set his book down gently on his lap._

_Speak._

"_Of course," Roxas replied automatically and without thought. "I am very grateful, Father."_

_Something like triumph flashed in the man's eyes. "Good, good," he murmured to himself, entwining his fingers together. He grinned slightly, showing traces of sharp, white teeth. "You know, Roxas, I have only your best interests at heart."_

_Roxas nodded. Was this just an ego trip? Something for his father to reassure himself that he was doing a good parenting job?_

_His father continued, gesturing to the object-filled mansion around them, "All of my wealth, I have shared with you. I have raised you and nurtured you. You owe me everything, Roxas, _everything_."_

_Roxas wanted to fidget, to move one muscle, but he was too well-trained and his body stayed still. _

"_But it is only natural for a father to do so for his son," the father soothed. "Like I said, I really do want what's best for you." His tone became a little harder here and his eyes were flinty, carefully watching Roxas's reaction. _

"_Which is why I want you to go to that school."_

* * *

His fingers tightened their grip so much it hurt. Twin fists were quivering with the effort it took to maintain that grip. He hadn't wanted to move; he hadn't had the choice.

* * *

"_You're nothing but his dog!"_

* * *

His heart was broken and he let it weep. The parting with his friends- the few friends he had managed to grab hold of between his short bursts of freedom from the house- had not been a happy one. Five minutes were granted to him before he was to be shuffled off to the station and they had gazed at him with sad, but helpless faces. The same look one would give to a bum on the street.

Would like to help you, but can't.

Olette and Pence bade him farewell and patting him on the back, wished him well. Their lives would move on from this, seamlessly, soon to forget the strange boy they had met in school. He did not blame them. There was nothing really to make him stand out to anyone.

But Hayner…

Hayner had…

* * *

_A scowl had settled itself onto Hayner's face and it looked as though it were going to stick there permanently. The blonde had never been afraid to say what was on his mind and that was part of what made the friendship between the two boys so strained. There were things that Roxas did not want to hear aloud and Hayner had always dared himself to say them. It looked as though their goodbye was going to be one last example._

"_Stop glaring at me," Roxas ordered mulishly. Inside, he was bracing himself._

_Hayner's pursed lips open unzipped long enough to say, "Why do you always do that?"_

"_Do what?" Roxas wouldn't look at him._

"_This!" Hayner exploded. "You always do what he tells you to. Without thinking! Without questioning it! Tell him you don't want to move! Tell him you want to stay here!"_

"_He's my father," Roxas mouthed the words, the same words he had spoken countless times throughout his life. "I must obey."_

_Hayner bristled and spat out, "You're nothing but his dog!"_

* * *

Roxas winced.

* * *

_In his mind, Roxas struck Hayner solidly in the face with his fist. The shock would run through his hand, but he would hear the satisfying crunch as he broke the other boy's jaw. Blood would drip from Hayner's nostrils and mouth and blue eyes would take it in as triumph. Hayner would land on the ground in a lump, with a thud, and not move and Roxas would replay that punch a thousand times over. Pence and Olette would stand there in shock, too stunned to move while he stood there in his victorious fury. _

_Instead, all he did was turn and seat himself in the car, cursing himself._

* * *

Just then, a change in the landscape caught Roxas's eye. The train was approaching one of the eight famous bridges that crossed over into Bastion. The eight bridges were absolutely necessary because, other than by air, there was no other way to enter the city. A thunderous cackle filled the air, signifying the train's transition from sturdy ground to a structure that was built above a large looming canyon that appeared to have no bottom or end. Staring out his window, Roxas could see the city coming into view on his right, but the canyon still seemed to stretch outward endlessly. This was not so, of course. Everyone knew that the canyon ran itself around Bastion in an oval like pattern. There was no telling where the canyon ended or began because it was connected tip to tip. It was less like an oval really, because an indent toward the north gave it more of a heart shape. "Heartless Canyon", it was called in remembrance of the many lives lost during its creation. Lives that hadn't asked to be lost in the terrible earthquake from twelve years ago.

Looking at it, it was hard to believe that Bastion had managed to survive nearly intact and was, in fact, thriving. A little cut-off from the rest of the world, but it remained on of the top most centers of technological progress. So it was only logical that some of the country's top schools would be established there. Roxas supposed that this is why his father wanted him to attend high school here. Graduating from any of its prestigious schools would be sure to give a head start to the good life.

Then the sky disappeared from view as the train pulled into the station and all Roxas could see was a thick wall with blotches of illuminating light. This was his stop. He hefted his backpack onto his shoulders and picked up his skateboard from its storage place above his head. The house he was going to- which was currently awaiting its sole occupant of one- would be completely furnished with everything he would need and more, but he had insisted on taking the pack and the skateboard with him. They were his true belongings.

Despite his selfish wish to hate the place, he found that, tragically, the station was actually a pretty bright place to be. He felt slightly claustrophobic about being around so many people at one time but it was starting to become a little invigorating. Breathing a little more easily, he strode forth confidently. The further he walked the smaller he felt himself become as he pushed himself through the sea of bodies. He kept getting pushed every which way and he started to have the nagging feeling that he was no longer walking straight. 'My way out,' he concentrated, 'I have to find my way out!'

Finally, Roxas managed to break through and out where there were no longer as many people. He spotted the word "exit" along with a figure of man happily pointing straight ahead. However, everywhere he looked appeared exactly the same as where he had just come from. Finally it struck him that he had never lived in such a large, populated area before and that his sheltered upbringing might have left him incapable of handling it. And he was only at the station! Forcing down the fear, he made his way out the doors and into the sunlight. Perhaps he could get his bearings out here.

* * *

There He was. It was so easy to pick Him out of the crowd and even if the information had not been given to him, he would have recognized Him. If he had been excited about his mission before, the sight of Him had made him almost ecstatic. He wanted to let out a loud chortle, but managed to restrain himself heroically. It was hard enough to stay inconspicuous with this outfit on; he didn't want to see what would happen if he were to draw attention to himself. No, that would not be good. Still, the time was drawing close. Just a little longer…

* * *

Roxas had to blink a couple of times before his eyes could bear the sunshine. Upon his eyes clearing, he immediately found his sight overwhelmed with bustling shops and even more people. The noise was a giant wave of incoherent murmurs that he couldn't make out if he tried. He watched a few moments in amazement as people moved in and out of each other's paths without pausing, each knowing where they were going and how to get there. The exit led out to an outlet of buildings with paths of sidewalk laid between them. On either side lay the streets with cars racing away in their designated lanes.

What really caught his eyes though- what was holding everyone's attention really- was this giant screen displayed on the side of one of the buildings. Some sort of match seemed to be going on from the look of things and a crowd had begun to gather, various cheers and curses emitting from it. This was all normal enough, but the bizarre part was the competitors.

One seemed to be a man but it was a little hard to tell as there was very little of him showing. All of his limbs were covered by a brown full-piece suit and even went so far as to cover his hands completely. A silver breastplate covered his chest and back while his feet were covered in the same style of armor. With a shield on his left arm and a scrawny, brown sword in his right hand, the outfit was complete with an overly large silver helmet covering his entire head. Roxas found it hard to believe that he could see clearly with it on.

Stranger though was his opponent. It was a mouse, but one that looked as though he had jumped straight from the pages of some comic book. He had giant black ears and a nose on a head that seemed as big as his body. The hands were gloved and the shoes looked off-proportioned. But there was a determined look in the mouse's eyes as he fended off the man's blows. He had no such armor, but a simple black jacket trimmed in white and black shorts that fluttered as he jumped. A thin black tail completed the look.

The man seemed to be all about power as he swung wildly at the mouse with his sword. He was growing more agitated with each failed blow and it began to show as his strokes became more random. The increase in power slowed down the man's reflexes so that the mouse was able to dodge easily. The mouse not only made it look easy though, he made the movements look as effortless a rehearsed dance. It became clear that it was the mouse, not the man, that was leading each move.

Roxas moved toward the screen, memorized by their strange dance. Looking closer, he could see that it was not a sword in the man's hand, but a weapon that looked more like a giant key. A giant, brown key that looked as though it had been shriveled up. If it were not for the fact that the mouse was clearly in control of the match, Roxas would have thought it unfair for him to be so unarmed.

Just as the thought crossed his mind, the mouse turned on the offensive. With a giant leap into the air, he brought down a powerful kick which the man was barely able to block. He landed blow after blow with his bare hands and feet while at the same time edging away from the man in time to avoid retaliation. Then, just as quickly, he would move back in for a hit. The top left corner of the screen began to lose more of its bars as the mouse struck hit after hit.

Fortune seemed to have changed its favors as suddenly the man was able to turn a block into a blow and began edging the mouse toward the edge of the platform. The mouse had no choice but to retreat further and further. It soon got to the point where there was little left between him and the edge and still the man advanced. The mouse put up a valiant struggle to stand his ground and Roxas found that he had strangely begun to root for the little guy.

'There's no way he could win,' Roxas admitted to himself, despair starting to creep up into his heart again. 'He had the edge there for awhile, but the man has more power than him.' He bowed his head and heard the crowd grow silent as though everyone together was holding their breath, awaiting the outcome. 'That's just the way things are. The strong overpower the weak. And there's nothing that can be done about that.' The heaviness inside his heart seemed to crush his beating pulse and it suddenly became a little hard to breathe. Never before had he felt so fragile, as though a hand would suddenly come out of nowhere and crush him.

Yet, instead of cries of dismay, there arose innumerable cheers. It caught Roxas by surprise and his head flew up. Just as the man was swinging in his final blow, the mouse did a quick duck beneath the blade of the key and darted past the man and into the open arena. Something big was going to happen, everyone could feel it. Sure enough, the mouse leaped up once more high into the air, but this time, he raised his hands over his head. There in his grasp, materialized a golden key with a silver handle and a little gold chain dangling with the emblem of a mouse head. Roxas watched in amazement as behind the mouse, the light seemed to bend so as to form an outline of keyhole. With incredible strength and power, the mouse swung down the blade and a laser of light shot of the tip hitting the man straight on and enveloping the arena in bright light. The rest of the bars in the top left corner faded away instantly.

As the light cleared, the arena was revealed with the man laying limply facedown and the mouse surveying confidently. Both keys were gone. For a moment there was complete silence as though no one dared to move. Then, with a cry of excitement, an announcer proclaimed, "And we have winner! Mickey goes on to beat Magnius's angel! The Champion remains undefeated!"

Everyone, on screen and off, cheered like mad. The camera drifted out to reveal a red-haired man, with his tresses bound back in ringlets, pick up the lame figure of the man, who was suddenly doll-size. He stared at the object in his hands in disbelief and could be heard muttering, "How could I lose to such inferior vermin..?"

"They're…" Roxas blinked up at the screen as it was revealed that the two figures he had just seen battle so dramatically were hardly bigger than a pair of dolls, "not human."

"That's right!" a voice behind him chirped.

Roxas jerked forward in surprise, having not sensed someone come so close to him. He turned around to see a bizarre looking man, this one definitely life-size. He was an old man, if his ankle-long white beard was anything to judge by. He was dressed simply in a long blue robe that seemed to shimmer in the light, but Roxas passed that off as a trick of the light. Complete with blue, pointy slippers and a long blue, pointy hat, Roxas wondered if this was one of the people he had been warned to stare away from as a child. The old man peered down at him cheerfully through his small pair of round spectacles and grinned as though Roxas should be just as happy to meet such a random stranger.

"Those, my boy," the man pointed at the screen, but kept his eyes gleefully on Roxas, "are what have become known as angels."

Roxas raised a blonde eyebrow.

The man adjusted his spectacles, although it would have been hard for them to sit straight anyway on such a crooked nose. "They're sort of like dolls," he explained, trying to look professional. "People control them and fight battles with them."

"So they're toys?" put Roxas flatly.

The old man didn't seem to be listening. "They use very advanced technology in which players move their angels with the power of their mind," he went on. "Through this power, people pit their angels against one another in competitions of strength to determine who the best is."

"So they're toys," Roxas repeated.

The old man must have been deaf. "The battle you have just witnessed was participated in by two veterans of the game, also known as Angelic Layer," his voice was starting to run the words together. "Magnius, who is the deus- oh, sorry, 'deus' is the controller, so to speak- has been trying to beat the Champion out of his title for years! However, the Champion has never been defeated. Him or his angel, which is that mouse you see up there. 'Mickey Mouse' is his name. Kind of catchy isn't it?"

Roxas was trying to come up with the best way to extricate himself from this man when he heard the announcer broadcast the departure of the Champion. Despite himself, he was strongly curious to see who had been the mastermind behind the mouse. However, just as he turned to look at the screen, the camera angle shifted to a schedule of upcoming matches, and he lost his chance to see the man's face. The fact irked him more than it should have.

As the crowd began to drift apart, a thought struck him. He glanced back at the old man who was smiling at him expectantly and decided that perhaps this encounter could be useful for something. "Hey, mister," he addressed as politely as he could, "if I wanted to, say, purchase one of those angel things, could I?"

"Absolutely!" cheered the man, his eyes wrinkling closed with pleasure. "At any local toy store. In fact, they're so very popular, you're bound to find them almost any-" His eyes opened and he was shocked to discover that the boy was suddenly gone. Spinning around frantically, he scanned the crowd high and low for some sign of where the boy had taken off to. "Hey! Where'd you go?"

* * *

"What a weird old man," Roxas wondered aloud as he made his way down the street. All of the previous excitement seemed to have drained him enough to make him calm and right now the empty house with all its privacy was beginning to look a little desirable. A bed, in any case, did. Having found some local street signs, he had been able to deduce his location from the map in his backpack. It would probably take him a half hour if he walked and if he was lucky. Perhaps he ought to just ride in a cab….

A sign to his left caught his eye and he stopped to look at the poster in the store window. On it was a cheerful pair of a boy and girl playing with their individual angels and it read: BUY YOUR ANGEL HERE! The feeling he had come to know as temptation was nagging in the back of his head. The look on the boy's face made it harder. Just the idea of having someone there, a friend whose mere presence made things a little better….

'Are you really that lonely?' that inner voice sneered at him. 'Are you really so desperate that you'll create a friend just to have one?'

He didn't bother to reply, but instead just strode through the automatic door. Even the stores were huge here! Junk and junk piled everywhere as far as the eye could see, but no signs of anything that looked like it could be related to that game. Angelic Layer. He peered around curiously, hoping he didn't look as out of place as he felt. Luckily, he soon caught the attention of a passing clerk.

"Can I help you?" the lady asked, smiling politely.

"Um…" he refused to blush under the sudden attention but the reality of the situation suddenly hit home. Here he was, a sixteen-year-old boy about to start high school, and he was looking for a toy called an angel? He fidgeted and shifted his eyes to the side. "Ah… I'm looking for a toy." Mentally slapping himself for being so vague, he tried again. "Y'know… one of those angel toys… Angelic Layer, I think it's called."

"Well, of course," replied a very unexpected voice. His head snapped up and suddenly he was locking eyes with that creepy old man, who cheerfully took hold of his arm. "Right this way!" With a strength belying his age, the man suddenly took off, dragging Roxas along behind him and chortling all the way.

Slightly dizzy, Roxas found himself deposited in front of a giant selection of shelves clearly marked with the game's name brand. Boxes and boxes were piled on top of each other and though they seemed to all contain different things, it just further confused Roxas as to where to start. 'This is a little more complicated than I thought it would be,' Roxas thought, a bead of sweat making its way down the back of his head.

Meanwhile, the crazy, old guy was shuffling through the different boxes. "Not this one… not that one…" he muttered to himself. "Aha! Here we go!" He pulled back and presented Roxas with what looked to be a silver egg with white wings. A girl would have found it cute, but Roxas…

* * *

_Staring in front of a mirror only to take one step back and look at him trapped inside, inside that beautiful shell of glass…_

* * *

"An egg?" guessed Roxas aloud. What was he supposed to do with this?

"A very special egg," the stranger explained, his eyes beaming fondly down at the object in Roxas's hands. "It is from this egg that an angel is born. It is from this egg that your heart will come through."

The blonde thought it made an ok slogan if in reality it sounded a bit corny.

"What you make," the man went on gently, "will be your own, special angel. Each heart is different, so it only makes sense that everyone ends up making a special angel. Magnius's heart created a different angel than that of the Champion; so shall your heart will create an angel unlike any other."

As sugar-coated as it sounded, the idea couldn't help but appeal to Roxas. He looked down at the egg with a different set of eyes, wondering anew at the secrets it kept within its shell. Perhaps that secret part of himself which he had kept buried and smothered deep inside him could finally find an outlet. Perhaps, at last, he could give some part of himself strength.

He glanced at the old man who was once more beaming happily down at him. "What's your name anyway?" asked Roxas, figuring he might as well learn it if this man was going to make a habit of popping into his life.

Delighted, the old man cheered, "I'm Merlin!" He retained his proud position in the hopes that the boy would get it.

Roxas flushed away any hope of considering the man sane. "Uh huh," he let out; his eyes glancing around to make sure that there were people around. One couldn't be too careful.

Merlin seemed a little deflated after that, but nothing seemed to really keep his spirit down. "Now…" he took a deep breath, and then attacked the shelves like a mad man, throwing heaps of boxes into Roxas's unprepared arms. "You need this! And this! Oh, can't forget this! Definitely this! Can't forget that! You'll want that. And… well, that isn't necessary, but let's gets it anyway!" Finally done, he turned back to the boy to see him almost tipping over from the sudden weight. Pleased, Merlin announced, "That ought to do it!"

"Do I really need all this?" cried Roxas skeptically as he swayed.

"Hush boy!" commanded Merlin. "This is Angelic Layer we're speaking of! You can't be a penny pincher when it comes to this game!"

Roxas glared, "You're really a salesman, aren't you?"

"Chip chop, lad," Merlin clapped his hands, ignoring that last comment. "Off to the register with you!"

Roxas gave an exaggerated groan but headed off to the cashier all the same. Obedience had been bred into him after all.

* * *

Merlin watched him off with fond, twinkling eyes. The boy was really something. Too bad he didn't know it yet. "And so it begins," he whispers, feeling a bit sad. His work here was done. It was time to go.

In accordance with his thoughts, a persistent beeping sprang up from his right ear. Casually, he reached up and pinched the rim of his ear. With a click, the beeping stopped and his connection was established.

"Yes?" he called, wishing he could see his ear for all the good it would do him.

A voice spoke, "Did you give it to him?" The sound came out of the speaker installed where an eardrum should be.

"Oh, yes," Merlin nodded, though the person had no way of seeing him. "He doesn't seem very enthusiastic but there is great potential inside him. I think you will be pleased."

His correspondent said nothing for a long time, but Merlin didn't mind. It was understandable after all.

"So," the voice spoke finally, "are you on your way back?"

"All in good time," Merlin chuckled and he pinched his ear to hang up on the call. "Goodbye, Roxas," he called softly. "I know you will do well. May we meet again soon."

* * *

"Hey, Merlin!" Roxas cried, running back from the cashier. It was sort of difficult since he was weighed down with so many boxes, now safely purchased and in bags. "I bought everything. Man, you should have told me how expensive everything was!" He stopped with a start when he realized that he man was no longer there. "Oh, sure, now he leaves," he commented cynically. "This probably was just a gimmick all along. I'm such an idiot." He sighed, feeling more tired than ever. Shuffling his feet stubbornly, he headed back out the store. "I should really get home. It's getting late." His head suddenly hung lower with a realization. "Oh man! And I spent nearly all the money I have with me! There's no way I can afford a cab now."

Once he was outside, he was stopped by a deep voice, "Excuse me?"

He looked up to see a subdued looking man with red hair and a plain dark gray suit. Despite the passive look on his face, Roxas wondered wildly for a moment if he was about to be struck down by a gang member. He knew very little details about what his father did for a living, but he did know that it was extremely successful for him to make so much money. However, Roxas had never before had a threat made on his life so he pushed the thought away as him being silly. Looking again at the man, his presence didn't put Roxas on guard as much as Merlin's had, but there was still a sense of power hanging around him. The man spoke again, looking Roxas straight in the eye, "Are you Master Roxas?"

His serious tone quelled the blonde's urge to raise an eyebrow. "I am Roxas," he admitted slowly. "But I'm not the master of anybody."

Brown eyes narrowed slightly, but the man's overall expression stayed the same. He bowed slightly, his posture perfect. "I am Kratos," he introduced. "I work for your father. He sent me here to act as your chaperone." Words were clear and to the point.

At the mention of his father, Roxas fidgeted slightly. "What exactly do you mean?" he asked.

Again, Kratos spoke very precisely, "I am here to protect you, guide you, and provide various services which you may need."

"Oh," Roxas blinked. "So like a guardian then…"

"If that is the label you wish to use," was the reply.

"Ok…" Roxas decided to file that information away for later use and focus on what was really important here. A very focused look grew on his face and looking Kratos straight in the eye, he asked, "Do you have a car?"

Kratos blinked, managing to look somewhat surprised. "Yes," he answered after a moment. "I did come here to pick you up from the station after all. But I lost you in the crowd and it took some time to find you again. I hope you do not plan to wander so carelessly again."

A bead of sweat slid down the back of Roxas's head. "Yeah, well," he smiled sheepishly, "sorry about that. But I didn't know someone would be here." 'My father probably conveniently forgot to mention it,' he thought to himself. The ache in his arms reminded him that all this talking could wait after he was safely buckled and on their way.

Kratos seemed to read his mind for he said, "Come. We should get moving." Then he turned and led the way, Roxas trotting dutifully after him. Roxas concluded that perhaps living with Kratos wasn't so bad after the man had kindly offered to carry his skateboard and some bags. "I see you went shopping," he commented idly.

"Ah," Roxas responded, feeling more sweat beads slide down the back of his head, "That is… right after I got out of the station, I saw this fight on this giant screen. This mouse- well, I know it was an angel now- but this mouse was one of the fighters and I never thought I'd say this about a rodent, but he was pretty cool. Then this old guy dressed like a wizard appeared and talked me into buying all this." He was a bit embarrassed to admit to being tricked but something about Kratos made him easy to talk to. Probably the fact that he hardly spoke. The two entered a parking lot and Roxas wondered idly which car was theirs.

"I see," Kratos murmured. He glanced down at the bag he was holding. "So this is all to play Angelic Layer?"

"Oh," Roxas blinked in surprise, "You know about it?"

The man's reply was business-like, "The game has been exceedingly popular since its debut six years ago. At first it was just a craze among children but it soon swept into all age groups all over the world. As the birthplace of Angelic Layer, Bastion boasts some of the world's greatest players. Because of that, it is increasingly difficult to find someone that _doesn't_ own an angel."

Roxas wondered if Hayner or Pence ever played Angelic Layer and had angels of their own. The game was obviously a communal activity so perhaps they had not thought to share it with their strange friend who lived in almost-isolation? Aloud, he wondered, "Wow, Angelic Layer was created in Bastion…?" A thought occurred to him and since Kratos did not act like a typical servant, he dared to ask it aloud. "Does that mean _you_ have an angel, Mister Kratos?"

"Hmm," Kratos stopped and Roxas wondered if he had been too forward. Instead, Kratos reached inside a pocket and pulled out a set of keys. "We're here," he announced, unlocking the car.

Roxas had spent most of his life watching and the precise timing did not go unnoticed. He quietly put his things in the car and didn't ask another question.

* * *

The house was smaller than the one Roxas had lived in with his father, but any middle-class working man would have still exclaimed over its size. Roxas liked it instantly, even though it was barely furnished, there was hardly any food, and his only companion was a stranger he had known for a total of one and half hours. Still, something about it was cozy. Kratos offered to set the luggage in Roxas's room while the boy took a bath. He did it in a way that was politely subservient and it made Roxas feel guilty, but a bath sounded so nice… He reluctantly agreed, but inwardly resolved to not take advantage of Kratos's position. Roxas had hated doing that at his home and he was not about to do that to his one house-mate.

Before he left, however, he grabbed the box that held the angel egg. "The label said to open in bath water," he explained awkwardly. Luckily, Kratos asked nothing.

The bath water felt as wonderful as he had imagined and he let himself relax for the first time that day. After two days of traveling, his broken heart felt a little less heavy and instead he let it fill with the excitement of creating his own angel. It would be a task worth throwing himself into. Settled, he idly reached for the box and opening it, pulled out the directions.

"Warning," he read aloud, "None of the parts included are edible and can cause strangulation upon swallowing…?" He blinked for a moment before continuing. "Please use under parental supervision." It was hard not to snort at the irony. Thinking about the person he knew his father to be, Roxas knew that if he were still at that huge house he would never have learned about Angelic Layer or anything else beyond studying. His father would never, _ever_ let him do this, never ever…

Bitterly, he opened the box and pulled out the egg. It was just as beautiful as when he had seen it in the store. Upon seeing its glossy blue surface, he rubbed his forehead where a slight ache had settled. Probably from all the stressful thoughts he had been having. With that, he focused back on the egg and the growing excitement inside soon overcame that tiny ache. Looking back at the directions, he read aloud, "Submerge in hot bath water for ten minutes. _Do not_ open in bath. After bath, wait until slightly damp before continuing." Blue eyes glanced over to try and peer into the egg. There was something inside it but it was hard to see what. He carefully submerged it under the water and felt the material soften slightly in his hands. After a few moments, it was heavy enough to stay under water on its own and he quickly finished his bath.

After putting on the pajama set he had grabbed from his backpack, he drained the water and gently lifted out the egg. He held it over the sink and gingerly opened the lid. Cool water flooded out and down the drain leaving behind… a light blue blob. That was how Roxas would describe it anyway. Just a little mass that had no shape or form. "This looks nothing like a doll," he hissed under his breath. Feeling slightly gypped, he calmly carried the egg out of the bathroom and into the hallway.

* * *

"Sometimes I wonder why I even took this job," Leon spoke aloud, his eyes lazily watching the computer screen before him. It was filled without countless stats about innumerable angels, but at the moment, all the figures just blurred together before his brown eyes.

"Oh, don't be like that," giggled his young coworker, a pretty brunette named Yuffie. She set down a mug full of hot coffee that looked suspiciously as though someone had dared to put cream and sugar in it. Wimps. Yuffie inhaled the rich aroma from her own warm mug before continuing, "You took this job because of the great pay and benefits." With that, she set herself to chugging down the liquid goodness.

Trying to ignore both the comeback and the girl's bad manners, Leon scrolled down the page a bit faster. "What are we looking for anyway?" he wondered. "We gather all this data together, but what exactly do they do with these numbers?"

Yuffie released a well-satisfied gulp of air and set down her now empty cup. "Probably some sort of demographic test," she commented absently, peering down into his computer screen. "Woohoo! Numbers!" she laughed, but really she was peering sideways at his untouched coffee cup. Just as she made a grab for it, Leon calmly picked it up and took a long sip. Knowing she was watching him with tearful eyes, he made sure to gulp it down audibly. Yuffie glared at him and went over to her desk- which was unfortunately right next to his. "You're no fun," she pouted.

A noise caught her attention and she turned her chair around in time to see a queer little figure of an old man in blue marching obliviously down the hallway. "There goes that weirdo again," she commented aloud. "I wonder where he was. He doesn't usually leave the building…"

"Don't you have a job to do?" Leon's gruff voice cut into her thoughts.

She scowled at him. He was so very _un_-cute. Spinning back around, she muttered, "Right, right."

* * *

So much had been going on that Roxas had not realized right until he opened the door that this would be his first time in his new room. Curiously, he switched on the light and took in his new quarters. Just like the house, he took to it immediately. There was a simple bed in the corner- luckily, already furnished with cotton sheets and comforter. On it was a fluffy, white pillow and the purchases he had made earlier that day. An empty bookcase stood against one wall with what he knew to be an empty dresser right next to it. The wall directly in front of him had a big, lovely window with blinds already installed. Then next to the bed was a study, with plenty of drawers and a computer nicely set up on the desk. It was cozy and comfortable and wonderfully lacked that feeling of imprisonment. 'I wonder who furnished this place anyway,' he thought, feeling slightly amazed. 'It couldn't have been my father. But then who else?'

No answer would come to him and he let the thought drift away. Feeling slightly empowered, he set the egg on the desk in front of the computer and went to grab his bags. It was time to make his angel.

Boxes were soon littered all over the floor with the packaging lying out like carnage. Roxas promised to clean the mess as soon as he was done, but he was a bit caught up in the process. There were wires to connect, pieces to put together, and software to install. After quite a bit of effort, he was finally seated in front of the computer with the egg connected to the modem and covered with a protective material. Roxas made sure to read both the instruction booklet and the screen carefully. "Upon connecting, press 'enter'," he read before pressing the button. The protective covering soon lit up, filling the egg with a warm, orange glow. The teenager was impressed and pressed onward eagerly. He was so close…

It was time to look at the booklet again. "Connect hand piece into slot C," he echoed the words. "Hand piece..?" Looking to his right, he saw that it was the last unopened box. "This must be it." Carefully, he unwrapped an accessory that almost like a smaller monitor, but Roxas could see the faint outline of a handprint upon its screen. He plugged the cord in and heard a short chime as the software registered it. A box had appeared containing a new set of instructions. Once more, Roxas read, "To finish creating your angel, place right hand upon hand piece. Box will then respond by lighting up. (Do not be alarmed by slight warmth.) Visualize the kind of angel you desire. The computer will alert you when your angel is finished. Hint: Do not focus on the specific details. Instead, look deep inside yourself and visualize what you see reflected inside." With a deep breath, Roxas sat back in his chair. "They sure like to use such flowery language…" He stared at the accessory before him. 'This is it,' he thought. 'Visualize my angel..' His right hand seemed to fill up with tiny beads of static. 'Seems kind of strange to build my angel with my mind,' Roxas thought vaguely. 'Amazing what they can do with technology around here.' With that, he laid his hand against the small screen and closed his eyes.

Soft warmth grew beneath his palm and he calmed himself by focusing on his breathing. A paranoid fear started to build that he was doing it wrong but he shoved it away fiercely. He would let himself only think of his angel. For good measure, he also ignored any thoughts that would make him think of how silly he appeared.

'I want…' he started off slowly, 'I want a fast angel, I suppose. A little on the small side too, like me. None of this brawn over brain. … Knowledge would be useful too, but I don't want him to be a genius. More of an… insightful fellow, I suppose. Human, too. The mouse was pretty cool, but I think a human would be best. A boy… around my age. Hmm…' The last set of instructions reverberated back to him softly. 'What do I really want? I know nothing inside myself that I could give, nothing I would give either way. But… if I_could_ give something… what would it be?' The answer was blaringly obvious and he focused in on the thought so strongly, it was almost as though he were yelling. 'I want him to be _strong_. Not just in muscle, but in heart too. He would have the strength to do things I never could, to fight back the darkness within one's self and always reach out for the light. … Not only that, but…' And the voice inside became a little quieter. 'He will fight for others. Fight so that others may have a chance to reach that light. … If I could have a friend like that… perhaps I may finally gain a little strength myself…'

As Roxas concentrated, a halo of focused light formed at the base of the egg. Slowly, as Roxas's thoughts pulsed from his mind into his head and into the computer, the halo of light made its way upward. The little lump had began to glow and as the ring passed up, it began to morph its shape. The ring soon completely cleared the bottom of the egg, leaving behind a tiny set of toes, feet, the curves of legs…

* * *

An indignant beeping noise startled Yuffie from a slight doze. Startled, it took a moment for her to realize that the annoyance was coming from her computer. An icon was flashing at the bottom of her screen, but it was one that she had never seen before. "What the.." she gaped. "Leon, look at this!"

"I know," came his voice. She turned to see him staring intently at his own screen. "Our system is being notified of something… but what?"

* * *

… Delicate hands hanging on either side, a firm stomach, well-tone arms, the chest…

* * *

Leon, for not the first time since he had taken this job, was looking at Yuffie dumbfounded. "Are you…" he gaped, trying to put together his words. She wished she could see the look on his face, but she was a bit busy at the moment. "Are you hacking?"

"Maybe," was all she said, biting her lip. It was sort of hard to talk with her fingers flying so fast.

"You can't-!" he started to say, but stopped himself. This was Yuffie he was dealing with after all. He sighed deeply and rubbed at his forehead. "You idiot! You shouldn't be hacking into our _own_ system!"

"Oh, hush," she giggled. "I want to know what's going on. So do you, I'm sure. And what do you want to bet that the higher-ups aren't going to tell us."

Her only answer was a string of grumbles she didn't bother to interpret.

* * *

… Sturdy neck, then the head with the eyes closed, finishing with a wild mess of brown hair…

* * *

Yuffie finally stumbled onto something, but it wasn't quite what she expected. "Well, that's strange," she voiced.

Leon's attention was peaked and he leaned over to see, "What is it?"

"It's…" she tried to make sense of it, but it was hard to believe her eyes.

The completed miniature body almost seemed to breathe. Unbeknownst to the blonde, a tiny set of eyes opened slowly to reveal irises the color of the wide, open sky.

"The number thirteen," was all she could say. "Just… the number thirteen over and over…"

"Some sort of computer code?" Leon guessed in a way that was not at all confident.

"You're thinking of ones and zeros," Yuffie replied. "But, no, this is definitely the number thirteen…. Hey, what's this?" She scrolled down.

* * *

Beep.

* * *

The screen went black. Yuffie and Leon stared at it dumbly for a moment before realizing that the computer had shut down. Yuffie leapt to her feet, screaming, "No fair, no fair!" Leon just leaned back and rubbed his forehead, wondering again why he had taken this job.

* * *

A soft noise emitted from his computer and Roxas realized that it was done. Somewhat bewildered, he opened his eyes to see that a miniature human doll had formed inside the egg. Some part of him must not have believed that this would work because he stared at it in amazement. "It worked," he breathed wonderingly. "It's finished…"

Another beep emitted from his computer making Roxas jump. Startled, he turned to see that the screen had changed. It was now asking for his name, the name of the angel's deus. He shook his head and begun typing.

"R. O. X. A. S," his fingers spelled out. He clicked "ok" and then the screen changed again. This time, it asked for the name of his angel.

It occurred to him that he had never really thought of it before. Having not really been raised with a wide variety of toys, it had never really struck him that he would have to name his angel. But looking back at the figure that had been created on account of his thoughts- or heart, whatever- it seemed only natural to give it- no, _him_- a name. Yet he couldn't claim to be particularly creative. What would do for a name? He stared into the wide eyes that mirrored his own in color…

* * *

_The big, wide open sky lingering so high above him as he stared through the window, always looking through glass and up into freedom…_

* * *

That was when the perfect name hit him and without a second thought, Roxas typed it in.

"S.O.R.A," filled the blank and Roxas eagerly clicked on "ok". With that, the name of his angel became official and the team of Roxas and Sora had been born into the world.

The light faded from the egg and Roxas was allowed to remove Sora from the egg. The angel wouldn't need it anymore. Roxas, a bit awkwardly, managed to put the long white shirt that came with one of the packages over Sora's head so that he was covered from the neck down to the ankles. It lacked all the coolness of a battle uniform, but Roxas still looked down at Sora in admiration. This was- after all, no matter what- his very own angel.

"Sora," he whispered at last, the name making his lips curl up in a soft smile.

* * *

"That was quite a fuss that boy made," Merlin chuckled fondly. He had heard the chaos go off across the building. It made the dark room a little easier to bear. The figure seated before him always wanted it dark and even if he couldn't understand why, Merlin was more than happy to bear a dark room for that person's sake.

That person smiled and looked down at the angel he held on his lap. As his finger traced Mickey's ear, the smile grew a little fonder. He laid back his head gently against the chair and breathed softly, listening to his heart beat.

* * *

**NEXT TIME:**

_Part of the fun of moving to a new town is meeting new people, right? Roxas has an early run-in with an interesting brother and sister pair. Then there's the guy at school, who is more interested in guitars and aliens than angels. Roxas is just breaking __through his shell when he is thrown unexpectedly into Sora's first angel fight! It might be a little difficult seeing as he hasn't learned how to use the Layer quite yet…_

_**Chapter Two**_: First Fight-Defend Your Friends!

* * *

_For Kit Kat,_

_Thanks for helping me think up a title._


	2. First Fight: Defend Your Friends!

_Guest Appearance_: Rinoa from Final Fantasy.

* * *

_**Unto the Open Sky**_

"_The tension is here_

_Between who you are_

_and who you could be."_

- Switchfoot, **Dare You to Move**

* * *

_**Chapter Two**_: First Fight-Defend Your Friends!

_He was staring into a mirror except that it wasn't his face looking back at him. It was someone else, a small little boy. The boy looked so happy to see him and had a big grin brightening his face. A small hand rose up to lay gently upon the shimmering blue. Slowly, he rises up his own small hand to press up against its reflection. The mirror is cool to the touch, but he can almost feel the warmth of the other boy's hand. He looks back up to the mirrored eyes. The boy's smile grows wider as he opens his mouth and screams…_

* * *

In a tangle of limbs, Roxas fell over and off the bed and onto the hard panel floor. The shock to the body made the blond gasp as his mind was immediately forced to focus in on his surroundings. He was disoriented for a moment before he remembered yesterday and that he now had a new bed to sleep in. The shrill of the alarm clock continued to shriek its indignity and Roxas figured that this was what had made his heart thunder away so early in the morning. Slapping down on the clock a little harder than necessary, his heart and ears filled with relief at the silence.

Now thoroughly awake, Roxas turned to survey his new room. The bright morning sunlight turned out to illuminate a less than tidy room. Boxes lay all over the floor with wrapping and crumpled bags. His study was also a mess with tiny machines laying all over the desk surface. "Oh man," he groaned, stretching, "I totally forgot to clean up last night… Ah!" He went to the desk.

There, sitting above all the mess, was his newly created angel- Sora. He took the doll down and stared again at the product of his hard work. It was still a bit hard to believe… "Well," he said aloud, a bit playfully, "good morning." He glanced back at the mess on the floor. "Might as well get started cleaning up," he announced, setting Sora back down.

And so the morning began.

Roxas found that, despite the new environment, he managed to fall into a morning routine rather well. First, he tidied up the room, clearing away all the boxes and storing away the various products that he had used to build Sora. Then, after making the bed, he headed towards the bathroom to take care of the daily toiletries. Luckily, despite his lack of wardrobe, Kratos had managed to pick up a school uniform for him so that he actually had something to wear.

Though he had worn a uniform to junior high as well, the high school uniform felt different somehow. As he buttoned up his white collar shirt, he reflected that it was fairly decent for a uniform. White collar shirt, blue plaid pants, plaid tie, and a light blue jacket- all in all, not a bad combination. All the same, he put his last remaining change of clothes at the bottom of his backpack. Perhaps he would explore the town after school…

Just as he was grabbing his jacket and preparing to leave the room, he caught sight of Sora still sitting on the desk. He hesitated. It was illogical, but he had a very strong urge to take Sora with him. The angel would serve no purpose at school, but then again, there was afterwards. Maybe he could stop by a store and buy Sora a proper battle uniform. Then there was learning how to play Angelic Layer in the first place…

And so the backpack strap went across the shoulder, the jacket folded over the arm, and Sora was carried carefully against his chest.

* * *

Roxas was an early riser for two reasons; one being that it was a pet peeve of his to be late and the second being that he just didn't function well without breakfast. Luckily, that breakfast did not need to be a full course meal. So, enjoying the wonderful metabolism of youth, he unwrapped the second to last toaster pastry he had managed to unearth and happily plopped it into the toaster. Then, because he was a growing teenage boy and always felt as though he had six stomachs instead of one, he threw in a microwaveable goody he had dug out from the freezer. Sora seemed to be watching contentedly from the kitchen counter.

Just as he set the timer, Roxas heard the shuffling of feet. "Oh," he thought aloud, as though speaking for Sora's benefit, "Mister Kratos must be awake."

Sure enough, a slightly disoriented red-head entered the kitchen. He seemed to be slightly confused at Roxas being up so early. "Good morning," Roxas greeted, biting down slightly on his lower lip. Kratos had nothing near to the comical version of "bed-head", but his hair looked slightly more disheveled than usual with little strands sticking up here or there. He was wearing his suit, but it needed to be tugged and straightened in a few places. The man was also blinking away the last bits of sleep although it was slightly hard to tell since he still maintained his apathetic appearance. Roxas had a feeling that it would be out of line to laugh at the poor man and so didn't say anything.

As he thought, Kratos was an orderly man. Even as he murmured back, "Good morning, Master Roxas," he was straightening his hair with his fingers. The mischievous strands fell right back into place and soon Kratos looked like his professional self. "If I may ask," he began, taking a seat at the counter, "what are you doing?"

"Making breakfast," Roxas answered, swiping his pastry as it popped out of the toaster. The microwave soon let known that it was done. Opening the microwave door, Roxas offered, "There are still two or three pastries left if you want to warm something up." Grabbing the two parts of his meal, he settled himself across from his house mate.

Kratos peered down his nose at the sugary goodness distastefully. "Thank you," he replied, not looking all that grateful, "but I shall grab something later while you are at school." He looked back at Roxas. "Shall I drive you there, Master Roxas?"

The blond absently wondered how long he should wait before breaking Kratos out of that master/servant attitude. "Thanks," he managed to get out after swallowing the last morsel, "but I'll use my skateboard." He threw his trash away.

"Are you sure that is wise?" Kratos put forth hesitantly. Roxas reminded himself that it was Kratos's job to take care of him. What a weird idea.

He struggled for a moment, trying to put what he felt into words. Before, back where he used to be, he would have just been shuffled off into the car and he would never have been able to get the words out. But that was there and this is here. A different place, a different time. Roxas glanced at Sora. "Please," he said at last, "let me do this." It sounded weak but it had taken quite a bit of strength to say.

Kratos peered at him for a moment and Roxas expertly fought down that urge to fidget. He had a sinking feeling that Kratos would say no and then what would he do? But then the man said, "You have the proper safety gear?"

It caught Roxas off guard. "Y-yes," he stuttered, "of course." To prove it, he lifted up his helmet from its spot near his seat. "I have the pads too," he inserted quickly.

"Very well," Kratos rose from his seat. "We shall try this, I suppose. Do not take advantage of the privilege." That said he made to go back to his room.

Roxas couldn't believe it. "You'll," he swallowed, "you'll really let me?" Perhaps it was looking a gift horse in the mouth, but how else was he supposed to feel after he had, for the first time, put his hand against the window only to feel no glass?

Kratos turned back to him. There was a strange look on his face. "I am not your jailer, Master Roxas," was all he said. Then he was gone.

After strapping on his safety gear, Roxas wondered where he was supposed to put Sora. There was a side pocket on his backpack. Would that be enough? It would have to be for now, but Roxas couldn't help but wish, as he set Sora snugly inside the pocket, that there was a more secure way of transporting the angel. That settled, he turned back to the open front door. "I'm leaving!" he called, feeling that no one at all was in that two story house. Still, it had felt wrong not to say something to alert Kratos to the fact he was going. The whole relationship seemed to have quickly turned awkward. Roxas was no longer sure how to act. But just as it had seemed right to call out his farewell, it had seemed just as right to leave a note on the table of his after school plans. He closed the door and then he was off.

* * *

As always, he was handily prepared with a set of directions to the school. He found, to his enjoyment, that this area of Bastion had plenty of open space and wonderful neighborhood scenery. It was not at all crowded as it had been back where he had come from, but instead he could easily share the sidewalk with the pedestrians. There were also lots of trees. They came in so many shades of green that it was fun to look at them all.

Turning a corner, he found that his right side view had become a white wall. What was over the wall he couldn't see, but the barrier seemed to stretch on for quite a bit. He double-checked his instructions. "It says here," he told Sora, "that I should turn left at the light." The problem was, he didn't see any traffic light. Just a street and some trees on his left and then the white wall on his right. "It must be further down," he decided, and continued onward.

It really was a long wall and Roxas couldn't help but look at it. Just what was on the other side? He got so wrapped up in it that he forgot to look where he was going. More importantly, he was unable to see the dozing schoolgirl standing right in his path.

The crash was inevitable really.

Roxas was awfully confused on why he was on the ground. A sharp pain run up his spine and he had a feeling that he had landed on something soft. He sat up slowly, rubbing his back. The pain made him grateful that he had worn his helmet. If only there was some sort of protection gear for his rear…

He soon whipped his backpack around to his front to check on his angel. After seeing that Sora was completely undamaged, he let out a breath of relief.

The body across from him soon caught his attention: a young blond with a white school uniform. His skateboard lay between them like a smoking gun. It didn't take much for Roxas to put together what happened.

'Oh no!' he thought wildly, rushing to the girl's side. 'I've killed her!'

He obviously did not if her breathing was anything to go by, but he didn't like the fact that her eyes were closed. Grasping her gently by the arms, Roxas picked her up slightly off the ground. The motion seemed to bring the girl to her senses for her eyes opened slowly to reveal dazed blue eyes. Roxas carefully released her as the girl managed to raise herself up onto her knees. However, her eyes remained unfocused as though she were still asleep.

"Um," Roxas's eyebrows furrowed. He had no idea how to handle this. "Are you alright? I'm very sorry about crashing into you."

The girl raised her head and stared up at him without recognition. As she did so, he caught sight of an angel nestled in a side pocket of her backpack, the same way he had strapped in Sora. It was a pretty doll with red hair and a sporty pink outfit. It could have been mistaken for any other girl's doll, but Roxas felt instinctively that it was an angel. If he were right, that would make this doll the first angel he had seen personally other than his own.

"Namine!" called a voice to his right. Startled, Roxas turned to see an opening in the white wall. Instead, there was a black iron gate and beyond that, a giant house that amazed even Roxas with its size. Running out to the gate, wearing the same uniform as Roxas, was teenage boy with long red hair. He seemed to be in a hurry if his speed was anything to go by. Roxas immediately leaped away from the girl, certain that the boy was going to yell at him. However, the red-head seemed to hardly see him. Instead, lilac eyes narrowed down at the girl as he pulled her up to her feet. "What are you doing? Did you fall asleep outside the gate again? You gotta stop doing that…" The girl didn't seem to hear him. "Oh, whatever. C'mon! We're going to be late!" With a firm grasp on the girl's arm and with no glance at Roxas whatsoever, the red-head sped down the street, dragging the girl along with him.

Roxas was left standing on the sidewalk, blinking after them. Deciding not to say anything- aloud or to himself- he picked up his skateboard and continued on to his first day of high school.

* * *

Roxas was relieved to have not only arrived at the school in one piece, but to have also found his locker without a problem. There were so many people though… Strange how that seemed to be the only thing it had in common with the junior high he had left behind. Even the people felt different around here. More sophisticated and elite. Adjusting his backpack's shoulder straps slightly, Roxas headed gamely for his home period.

Seeing as how all first year classes were on the first of the three floors, Roxas easily found his classroom of 1-D. From behind the door, he could hear the noise of a classroom full of unsupervised high school students. Taking a long, deep breath, Roxas opened the door and strode in.

Twenty-something classmates were scattered through the room, divided into their own little cliques and chatting away. Despite it being the first day of school, everyone seemed to have someone else to talk the free minutes away with. The only oddball was a tall, spiky-haired blond sitting by the window, strumming idly at an electric guitar and ignoring everything else around him. Roxas remained frozen in the doorway, surveying the room with a sinking feeling. There were quite a few open seats, due to the students being clumped together, but Roxas looked at the desks with dismay. They were partner desks- meant to be shared two to each one. No matter what, he would have to sit next to someone. But who?

"Excuse me," came a soft voice from behind him. Startled, he looked over his shoulder to see a beautiful young lady standing behind him. She had soft silvery hair that flowed gently out around her neck and there was a definite sense of poise about her, especially with the feminine curve to her soft, blue eyes. This was definitely a mature young woman. "Would you mind letting me through?"

It suddenly occurred to Roxas that he was still standing in the doorway like an idiot. "Ah!" he yelped, scurrying out of the way. "Yes! I'm sorry!" What was wrong with him? This was not a good first impression to lay on the woman who was obviously his teacher.

Sure enough, the woman strode forth confidently to the front of the class with a black briefcase tucked up under her arm. "Good morning, everyone," she greeted. "Please choose the seat you like best for it will be yours for the rest of the semester." Everyone scurried to their chosen spots, the murmur slowly fading away from the class. Roxas scanned the desks frantically, but still couldn't find a spot to resign himself to. The pressure was starting to make him slightly claustrophobic. "There's a spot right there," the teacher called to him kindly while arranging her things. She gestured over to the last empty seat- right next to the guitar player. Blushing slightly, Roxas hurried to take his seat.

"Hey," the blond nodded to Roxas, still strumming softly at his guitar.

Roxas murmured a quick, "Hello," as he sat down.

"Young man," the teacher addressed his neighbor strictly, "please put the guitar away. I assure you this will not be music class." A few chuckles sprinkled through the class. The blond pouted but put the guitar away in a black case. The teacher then turned to address the class.

"Hello and welcome to your first day of high school," she surveyed the room. "I am Professor Sage and I will be your Homeroom teacher for history."

Groans immediately filled the air at the thought of discussing history- of all things- every day so early in the morning.

"Professor," Roxas noted under his breath, impressed.

The blond next to him chuckled, "They weren't kidding when they called this a prestigious school."

The professor's eyes narrowed at the cries of dismay. "What are you all complaining about?" she reprimanded hotly. "Do you not understand what a wonderful opportunity this is for you? How anyone can _not_ find history fascinating, I don't understand. Your textbooks are filled with fascinating dates and exciting finds! Without history, we'd be in deep trouble- I'll tell you that much. We'd have numerous repeats of tragedies all over again! Like the Civil War that ended just before your lifetimes, I suppose we'd want a repeat of _that, _not to mention the Great Earthquake…"

One brave soul rose up a lone hand, "But, ma'am, the earthquake was a natural disaster. Mankind had nothing to do with it."

Professor Sage seemed to have a ready answer for that, "Who's to say mankind could not have done anything to prevent the earthquake from wrecking as much damage as it did? Looking back…"

Things went on like this for a little while.

Roxas blinked up at the woman, wondering where the mature persona had gone and whether he should be taking notes during this rant. Then he felt a poke in his side and he turned to see his spiky-haired neighbor grinning at him.

"Hi there," the stranger whispered, "I'm Demyx." He held out his right hand.

Sparing a quick glance at the teacher to make sure she was still preoccupied, Roxas put forth his own hand and shook the other boy's. "I'm Roxas," he replied softly.

"You're new around here," Demyx guessed, releasing the hand.

Roxas cocked his head, "New?"

Demyx jerked a thumb towards the rest of the class. "Most of the people who grew up in this city went to the same elementary and junior high schools," he explained. "Because of that, you get to see the same faces over and over again. But you," he winked, "I've never seen you before. And I'm pretty good with faces."

"Oh," Roxas blinked. Then he nodded, "Yeah, I just moved here from Twilight."

Demyx whistled. Then he spent a few moments in thought and Roxas wondered if that meant the end of the conversation. He turned his attention to the front in time to see that Professor Sage had decided to move on.

"Now if everyone will please take out their notebooks," she flipped open her lesson plan, "we will begin."

Roxas obediently pulled out his notebook when he felt another poke in his side. Again, there was Demyx grinning at him. "I get the feeling," the blond teased, "that you're not planning on sitting with anyone at lunch. Am I right?"

Once more, Roxas could only blink.

* * *

"C'mon," Demyx insisted, pulling on his arm. "We have a whole hour for lunch. Let's go get some grub!"

Truthfully, Roxas had no reason to decline, but he didn't like the inadequate feeling that came with interacting with Demyx's overpowering personality. He hesitated.

"Oh, c'mon," laughed Demyx, adjusting the guitar strap across his shoulder. "It'll be fun!"

The blond smiled brightly, in a carefree and open-hearted way that Roxas had never observed of his previous friends. With one more gentle tug on his arm, he stood up awkwardly. Before his table mate could drag him off, Roxas quickly swung his backpack up onto his shoulder. He spared only a quick glance to check on Sora's condition.

The motion caught Demyx's attention and he caught sight of Sora. "Is that," he tilted his head, curious, "an angel?"

Roxas tensed, slightly defensive. "Yes," he said at last.

"Awesome!" cheered Demyx, making as though to grab at the doll. He stopped at the same time Roxas twitched. His hands hovering, Demyx grinned sheepishly, almost shyly. "May I see?"

A small part inside Roxas wanted to shout out, "No!" and clutch the angel to him. In reality, he just nodded and watched as Demyx carefully took Sora out. There was a smidgen of pride when Demyx made various noises of approval.

"Nice," Demyx whistled. "I can't tell what type he is right off the bat, but he certainly looks capable." He looked to Roxas. "What's his name?"

"Sora," Roxas blurted without thinking.

"Sora," Demyx echoed as though feeling it out. He nodded approvingly. "Cool. I like it. But, uh," he handed the angel back to its deus, "you should get a better uniform, man. An angel wearing that would get laughed out of the layer!"

A flush of red graced Roxas's cheeks softly. "Yes, I know," he admitted. "I was hoping to perhaps buy one after school."

"Well, be careful," Demyx warned. "Angelic combat uniforms have to be made out of a special material to withstand battle." Roxas tucked Sora back into his pouch. "Shall we go?" He led the way out into the hallway with Roxas following quietly, but feeling less awkward.

The prestigious Nomura High School was located just three blocks away from the town center, Livion Hall. The areas surrounding these two locations were known for being the high-end of town. Livion hall- named after the renowned military commander Osment B. Livion of course- was not only Bastion's center of government, but also a center of culture. Various cafés, art galleries, and museums surrounded the perimeter of the town hall. Students of Nomura High often took advantage of their ideal location to hang out at the cafés and grab lunch.

Demyx's favorite café happened to be owned by a very talented- but very eccentric- man who insisted on being called the Wonder Chef.

"I am the mysterious gourmet, the Wonder Chef!" he announced himself from behind the food bar. "Today I shall prepare everyone's favorite- Mac n Cheese!" He gave a dramatic thumbs up and smile perfect for a camera. "All you need are noodles, cheese, and cream!" The man then set ferociously to his work, his hands creating a blur of motion with bits of various foods busting out every now and then.

Roxas watched with wide eyes blinking and his posture a bit straighter than was comfortable. Demyx, beside him, lounged on his counter chair with an oblivious smile. "Does," Roxas asked slowly, "he always do this?"

"Hm?" roused Demyx. "Oh, you mean the whole preparation act? Every single time." He chuckled.

The Wonder Chef appeared to have finished with their meals for he then presented them both with a stunning display of the home-cooked favorite. The sight and aroma made Roxas think that the man could be forgiven his eccentricity if he always managed to cook like this. The man seemed overly satisfied with their reactions and with a fond, "Farewell!", he went to attend to his other customers.

"So this is," Roxas put it together, picking up his fork, "normal for him?"

Demyx laughed, "If that's what you want to call it." He eagerly shoveled the food into his awaiting mouth. Then he glanced at Roxas, "But enough about him, what about you?" Seeing Roxas seemed surprised at the sudden question, he added, "Tell me about yourself."

Roxas took smaller bites and regained his composure. "What is there to know?" he answered sincerely. He truly was a boring fellow. If this Demyx character was just after the latest scoop on a new student, he wouldn't find much to report on.

"Dude," chuckled Demyx. "You've got, what, sixteen years behind you?"

"Fifteen,"Roxas interrupted, accurate as ever. "I'll be sixteen in a month."

Demyx waved him off. "Yeah, yeah," he continued. "Over fifteen years have gone by. You've gotta have something to say about your life."

Roxas suddenly found the food a bit hard to swallow. His mouth was full so at least he didn't have to attempt an answer. Suddenly, he was unsure of what he would say.

Awkwardness.

Demyx's sheepish laughter broke it. He playfully tapped himself on the head with a knuckle and stuck out his tongue. "Stupid me," he sighed. "I'm always opening my big mouth only to insert my own foot. Mom tries to teach me better but then I head over to Dad's house and back to a bad example." He laughed.

This caught Roxas's attention. "Your parents are divorced?" he blurted without thinking. His mind immediately went blank, horrified at himself. Did this boy have a detrimental effect on manners?

Luckily, Demyx did not seem insulted. Quite the contrary, he seemed pleased to get to talk to himself. Demyx casually divulged information that would have been unthinkable for Roxas to share. "No," he chuckled, "my parents were never married. They had this thing going on when they were in college- and that's all I cared to ever know about the subject. But when it comes to me, you couldn't tell they weren't married. I'm the one thing they have a united front about. Too bad I don't have a sibling because that would really help take the pressure off!" He jabbed a thumb in his direction. "But why would anyone want to continue after they already have this bit of perfection, you know what I'm saying?"

"I see," Roxas commented as Demyx laughed at himself.

"So now that we're no longer strangers," Demyx went on, "why not share something about yourself?" Roxas still paused, this time unsure of what exactly to say. "Like, why did your family decide to move here?" Demyx supplied helpfully.

Roxas lowered his spoon, finished with his meal. "My father decided it," he said finally. "He had heard about this school's reputation and determined that this would be the best high school for me to attend. So I came here. My father, however, stayed back in Twilight."

"What?" exclaimed Demyx, wide-eyed. "You came by yourself? Who takes care of you?"

"I take care of myself," Roxas replied hotly. It struck a nerve for anyone to think that he was incapable of looking out for himself. Who else would do it after all? "But there is also an employee of my father's that lives with me."

Demyx's next question took Roxas by surprise, "What did your mom think?"

Roxas looked down at his empty plate, a shadowy reflection mirrored back to him. "There is no mom," he said quietly. "She left when I was younger." There was no bitterness to his voice, just fact. He tried not to dwell upon the woman- a woman he could no longer remember- who had chosen to leave him behind with that man who was his father. She must have been a stronger person than he, for he liked to think that he would run away too, if he ever had the opportunity.

"So just the bodyguard and you," Demyx murmured. He then continued on with his lunch. "Interesting."

"Is it weird?" questioned Roxas, feeling a bit defensive.

"Weird, normal," Demyx waved his spoon in the air as he lectured. "You put too much stock in those words, you know? Really, who am I to decide? It's just the way you live after all."

As though relieved of a burden, Roxas relaxed his shoulders. The sentiment was somewhat odd, but he decided that he liked this feeling Demyx's presence provided. It wasn't as overwhelming as he had thought. Demyx was just the sort of person that you could be open and honest with. No wonder Roxas wasn't used to that. "Thank you," he murmured quietly.

Demyx went on to scrape the bottom of his plate. Feeling contented, Roxas lifted up his bag and took Sora out of his pocket. The angel stared back at him with an unfocused gaze. Remembering his classmate's earlier comments, he had himself ask, "Demyx, do you like Angelic Layer?"

"In this city, who doesn't?" Demyx answered in his cheerful tone. He pushed his plate away and pat his belly, pleased. "Though I don't have an angel of my own."

This surprised Roxas. "Really?" he blinked. Demyx had seemed so enthusiastic about Sora; it seemed odd that he wouldn't have an angel of his own.

"No, because you see," Demyx's voice turned serious and he looked Roxas straight in the eye, "I believe Angelic Layer is actually a governmental conspiracy to brainwash people into total world submission."

It felt as though something had flown over Roxas's head. "Um," he stumbled, "what?"

Demyx leaned back, his tone more casual. "Yeah," he nodded. "So far it's just a theory, but it's gotta be true. Think about it. Angelic Layer is connected everywhere through computers and Internet. It even uses brain waves to function! Who's to say that there isn't some dastardly villain with a concocted scheme that decided to misuse his power? It would be way too easy! Yep!"

Roxas replied blankly, "That sounds more like a plot for a comic book then a real theory."

Demyx nearly fell over. "Ouch!" fake tears streamed down his cheeks. "Man, that was harsh!"

Roxas sighed.

Finally stopping the crocodile tears, Demyx looked at his cell phone to check the time. "Whoops!" he cried. "Time goes faster than I thought!" He nudged Roxas. "We should get back to class."

Roxas nodded, "Alright." He placed Sora back into the pocket and hefted the bag abroad his shoulder. That's when he caught sight of Demyx's shirt. "Demyx," he called, "your shirt! You should tuck it in."

"What?" Demyx blinked in surprise before glancing down. Then he laughed. "Oh, c'mon, man, it's cool!" A fiery passion sprung into his eyes as he curled a fist dramatically. "This uniform is worn in this way as a tribute of respect to Axel the Great!"

"Axel... the Great?" Roxas tilted his head. "Who's that?"

"Oh, that's right, you're new," Demyx muttered to himself. Full of passion, he turned on Roxas. Grasping him firmly by the shoulders, he cried, "Axel is the legendary idol of our school! He's the champion of champions, legend of legends! Some say he is on his way to becoming the greatest deus Angelic Layer has ever known! I believe it!"

Roxas squirmed. "And," he said slowly, "he wears his uniform like that?" Seemed like a silly reason to risk getting detention.

"One of the minor reasons he's so popular," Demyx released his friend's shoulders and puffed out his chest proudly. "But, still, he's a rebel who's not afraid to be a man! He's my hero!"

"Interesting," Roxas murmured, not really interested. He was in no particular hurry to meet this Axel character. More importantly, "He's a famous Angelic Layer player?"

"Yeah," nodded Demyx, returning a bit more to this planet, "I've seen videotapes of his games and he's amazing! Him and his angel, Riku. If you're going to get involved with Angelic Layer, keep your eye out for those two! You'll have a few years to go before you're at their level."

"I see," Roxas glanced back at Sora. "Thank you."

"No problem," Demyx chirped happily. Then firmly grasping Roxas by an arm, he sprinted them off toward school. "Now off to the oppression known as the classroom! Ha ha!"

Feeling as though he were dangling from Demyx's grip, Roxas reflected that he would probably continue to spend a great deal of time with this oddball blond.

The idea did not perturb him as much.

* * *

After the bell announced freedom, Roxas bid farewell to Demyx and changed his clothes into a more casual attire. Strapping on his safety-gear, he patted his pocket to be sure that the instructions he had received from Demyx were still there. Apparently there was an excellent Angelic Layer store not too far away that also served as a practice arena. Homework was light that night so he decided to go for it.

As he approached the Piffle Arena, a conversation was taking place atop its café terrace. The girl that had almost become roadkill earlier that morning was stirring her now-cold tea in a bored manner. A cute angel with red hair and a cute pink outfit sat upon the table beside her. "What is taking him so long?" she sighed to the red-head across from her, who was currently busy admiring the legs on a new waitress. "Does he think we just have all the time in the world to wait for him?"

"He'll get here when he gets here," remarked her brother absently. "Though I wish he would think of poor Zelos at times like this. Being forced to babysit you when there's a girl over there I have yet to introduce myself to."

Blue eyes narrowed at him. "Why do you always do that?" she pursed her lips. Being a womanizer was not the sort of a status a girl wanted for her brother.

"It's a way to pass time," Zelos explained distractedly as he fiddled with some strands of his long red hair. "What else would it be for?"

Namine fumed, "If I didn't know better, I would say you were a horrible person."

"Oh," chortled Zelos, "so you think you know better?"

"Zelos!" cried Namine, annoyed. She attempted to kick him from under the table but her reach fell short.

"Now, now, none of that," teased Zelos. Feeling mischievous, he reached across the table and picked up the angel. "Let's see what Kairi thinks shall we?"

Flabbergasted, Namine took a moment to respond before trying to lunge at her brother over the table. "Zelos!" she shrieked. "You idiot! You don't just grab someone's angel! That's rude!"

"Sit_down_, you she-thing," Zelos retorted, holding Kairi above their heads with one hand and trying to push his sister away with the other.

As Namine's arms were not long enough to reach that height, she settled for trying to hit him instead, "You're going to drop her!"

"I'm not going to drop her," Zelos snapped, offended. He tried edging backwards. "Unless you keep doing tha-"

His words were interrupted as, with an unexpected shove, his hand loosened and lost its grasp on the doll. Two pairs of eyes turned at the same time to stare in surprise as the unsuspecting angel was dropped into a free fall towards the ground. Forgetting her brother, Namine leaned over the railing. "Kairi!" she cried in despair, watching helplessly.

Her cry did not go unheard. Roxas was just about to pass by the Piffle Arena when he heard a girl call out from above. Instinctively, he looked up in time to see a strangely familiar angel's descent toward the earth. With a sudden burst of speed, he swung the board around in an acute arch. Curving around, he held out his hands palm out and together- and the angel landed gracefully in his grasp.

Letting out a breath he hadn't even known he had been holding, Roxas stared down at the brunette angel in his hands. This doll really did seem familiar. He also couldn't believe that he had managed to make that catch. Despite his adequate talent at skateboarding (he could get from point A to point B and vice versa), he had never been particularly athletic. Seeing that the angel was in one piece and unharmed, he couldn't help but feel a touch of pride. Although he had only had Sora for less than a day, Roxas could tell that he would have been horrified at the thought of anything happening to him. The owner of this angel was sure to be relieved.

In accordance to his thoughts, a voice called from above, "Hey, hey!"

Looking up, he saw a blond waving to him ecstatically. "Thank you!" she cried sincerely. "Thank you so much! Meet me inside. I'll be right down!" With that, she and a red-head turned away from the railing and presumably headed back inside.

Bemused, Roxas looked back down at the angel in his hands. "Well," he admitted to himself, "I guess I have no choice. C'mon, let's get you back to your owner." Picking up his skateboard, he made his way onto the first floor of the Piffle Arena.

Upon entering the building, Roxas reflected that Piffle Arena did not at first seem unlike any other teenage hang-out. The front seemed to be entirely devoted to those that had come to enjoy a coffee drink and some conversation. Even from where he was standing, however, Roxas could see hints of what occupied a building that took up half a block. People gathered around table centers that were lit up with beams of light. From the noise and gathered technology, Roxas hazarded a guess that this was where Angelic Layer duels took place.

He was interrupted from his observations when he heard someone stumbling down the stairs. Turning, he stiffened with shock at the realization that this was the same blond girl he had almost killed just that morning! Suddenly this situation got a lot more awkward. As the girl approached him, he found himself already stuttering.

"Thank you so much for saving Kairi," the girl smiled cheerfully. "That was amazing!"

"I," the words stumbled out awkwardly from Roxas's mouth, him momentarily forgetting to give the angel back to the blond's waiting arms, "I..." The girl blinked at him and then blue eyes widened when Roxas suddenly thrust the doll towards her. "I'm sorry!" he cried, bowing slightly with apology. "Forgive me!"

"Wh-what?" Namine blinked.

"What a freak," Zelos teased.

His sister ignored him and gently took the angel. "Did you damage her?" she asked, confused.

Roxas blushed fiercely, forcing to talk despite his feelings of idiocy. "N-no," he explained, "I meant for this morning. For when I ran into you. I never did get to apologize."

"You got ran into?" Zelos blinked at his sister in surprise.

"Hmm," Namine had to think about it for a moment. Then, as if in an epiphany, "Oh, yeah, I do remember that."

'She... she had to think about it?' Roxas thought to himself in amazement.

Namine continued, smiling, "I didn't recognize you as the same person. What a small world!"

Roxas blinked, "You're... not upset?"

Namine playfully hit herself on the head with her knuckles and stuck out her tongue. "No," she giggled. "It was probably my fault in the first place. I'm so terrible at waking at the morning. And my idiot of a brother takes so long getting ready that I often fall into a doze. I guess it wasn't the best of timing on my part."

Roxas allowed himself a sigh of relief, "Well, I still apologize. It was a terrible lack of skill on my part."

"Well, how about this?" Namine proposed. She held out her right hand, "I'm Namine," she gestured to the red-head next to her, "that's my older brother, Zelos," she held up her angel, "and this is Kairi."

"I'm Roxas," he introduced himself shyly, shaking her hand gently.

"There," Namine smiled brightly, "now we're friends. No need to worry."

Roxas smiled back hesitantly as Zelos pretended to gag, "Enough already! I'm getting a tooth ache..."

It was then that Namine caught sight of Sora. "Is that your angel?" she asked. At Roxas's nod, she perked up excitedly, "He's adorable!" She peered closer. "But... he still has the basic clothing sample?"

"Um," Roxas tucked his head sheepishly, "I just made him yesterday, so..."

"My non-fat, double-shot espresso with whip and caramel," Zelos spoke up, a bit whiny.

"I know!" chirped Namine, clapping her hands together. "How about I make you a new outfit? As a thanks for saving Kairi!"

"Espressoooo," moaned Zelos pointedly.

"That's very kind," Roxas responded to the girl, unsure. "But I don't know if I could..."

"Oooh," Zelos continued.

"Don't worry!" Namine assured. "I'm an expert!"

"But, I," stuttered Roxas.

"Look, kid," Zelos butted in, staring at Roxas intently. "She really is an expert. Let her make you something and you make a girl happy. Smooth no?"

"Zelos!" Namine cried, burying her red face in her hands.

"Um..." Roxas blinked, realizing that he no longer knew what he wanted to say. Just how did he get himself in this sort of situations?

"Perfect!" the red-head cheered gleefully. "Now, onward to the espresso!"

And so, though Roxas knew that was how he had ended up sitting across from the pretty blond and self-absorbed red-head, he was still quite unsure had he had gotten himself into this. Zelos, once properly reunited with his beloved drink, promptly tuned out the rest of the world. Namine settled Sora on the table next to Kairi and lifted up her bag. Roxas settled for watching her movements carefully. He was surprised to see her take out a miniature carrying case. Setting that on the table, she picked up Sora to take a good look at him.

"Hmm," she murmured, her eyes taking in every detail. She began to comment out loud, "A lightweight... with an emphasis... but a surprising balance on power as well." She looked up at Roxas, "Is he your first angel?"

Roxas started. He had been impressed that the girl had noticed something like that just by looking. "Y-yes," he nodded. "How could you tell?"

The girl smiled sweetly, but this time it looked a bit strained. "Like I said," Namine chuckled, "I'm an expert." She set Sora down once more before opening the case. Roxas peered over to see little folded bits of different kind of cloths. In a corner was a needle set with various spindles of threads. Namine's fingers hovered thoughtfully over one piece and then another, unsure. Then, finally, she smiled- this time one of pure joy. "I know," she whispered, "this one." She picked up a packet of black cloth. Roxas looked at it closely, but unfortunately could see nothing particularly special about it.

It did, however, cause Zelos to perk up. "That one?" he gaped. "Are you sure?"

Namine just nodded serenely. "Yes," she answered, picking up a needle. "Now Roxas," she instructed, without looking up from picking her thread, "you might want to order something for the wait. This will take a couple of minutes. Zelos, get a waitress."

Zelos, reverted back to his previous attitude, huffed and rolled his eyes. "Right away, your highness," he retorted sarcastically. Roxas opened his mouth to say that he could just go downstairs and order- like one was supposed to- when Zelos called over the new waitress he had been eying earlier. With a boyish grin on his face, the red-head looked up at the bemused woman adoringly. "Pardon me, my dearest beauty," he apologized with high levels of sincerity, "but my friend here would love to try some of your establishment's lovely, er-" He stumbled upon realizing that he didn't know what Roxas wanted. Sending a pointed look in the blond's direction, he wanted for an answer.

Catching on, Roxas quickly quipped, "Hot chocolate." For the most part, sweets did not attract him, but the smell of coffee had always been more of a turn-off. Hayner had often played at being grown-up by carrying around containers of coffee and the others had seemed to enjoy it. The various experimentations with the hot drink had been yet another activity Roxas had been excluded from.

True to form, Zelos wrinkled his nose at him, but turned a flawless expression back to the waiting waitress. "Isn't he cute?" he chuckled, shrugging one shoulder. "So, one hot chocolate," he leaned back, "and a refill on this, would you?" He tapped a finger against his cup before smiling brilliantly up at the woman. The stranger blushed deep red and nodded quickly before taking his cup. As she made her way downstairs, Zelos simply laid back with his arms folded behind his head, a satisfied smirk well in place.

Roxas blinked, noticing Zelos's uniform for the first time. The plaid and blue were replicas of the one stored within his bag. "You attend Nomura High?" wondered Roxas aloud, hesitantly. While the teen had been open and charming around the young lady, the atmosphere seemed to be shuttered closed and tight as far as Roxas seemed to be concern. It gave Roxas the impression that his presence wasn't wanted, but in a way that he had not encountered before. He had never really fit in anywhere and thus had never particularly reached out to people. It occurred to him that while he wrapped himself in stillness and quiet to keep people out, Zelos might have a different sort of walls.

Zelos deigned him with a glance before shrugging, "Second year. What's it to you?"

Roxas settled his hands upon his lap, his gaze upon the pristine white tablecloth. "Recognized the uniform, is all," he replied honestly. "I started as a first year as of today."

"Did you really?" Namine spoke up, surprising Roxas. Zelos had not so much as even twitched, but then, Roxas had not really expected him too. "I'm a fourth year at Panettiere Junior High myself."

So that was why she had a different uniform.

"I don't remember seeing you before," Namine continued. "Did you attend a different junior high?"

This was twice in one day that someone had asked him for information about himself. It must be a record.

Roxas nodded and found himself reiterating, "Yes. I just moved here from Twilight."

Namine carefully threaded her needle, "Is Angelic Layer popular there?"

He had no idea. Fads were something other kids paid attention to. If something had managed to become especially popular, small trickles might make its way back to Roxas, but by then it made no more sense than a foreign language.

"Not that I know of," he admitted honestly. After all, Hayner or any of the others never mentioned having an angel around him. "I had never even heard of Angelic Layer until yesterday."

"So you went and bought an angel with little idea or understanding of Angelic Layer," Zelos commented under his breath, with an implication Roxas didn't quite understand.

Very little conversation followed after that and Roxas lost track of time. He didn't mind the silence. Even when the waitress brought Zelos's drink- forgetting Roxas's own order and insisting the espresso was on the house- he didn't stir. In the midst of Namine's sewing and Zelos's gentle tapping on the glass, he could focus in on his own breathing. This was what he treasured. Peace and stillness- the feeling of his own mind was well-known and he basked in the feeling that there was nothing to fear in there. Also, though a cool autumn breeze wavered through the trees and ruffled the bright white covers, sitting still like this allowed him to feel how warm the sun was. Opening eyes he hadn't known had slid shut, he looked to Sora, seeing only a tuft of brown hair. From his memories of yesterday's match, Angelic Layer seemed filled with lights, sounds, and people. Was he really the right sort of person for this game?

"It's finished!" Namine declared, holding the suit up for all to see.

"Took you long enough," Zelos snickered, taking in the outfit approvingly.

His sister laughed, "Well, I wanted to do a good job on this one!"

And her hard work had paid off. Sora officially looked cooler than he had in that tissue paper substitute. The outfit was mostly black, with pieces of red, blue, and yellow showing through. There were only two pieces of armor which sat atop either shoulder. Two hand-gloves, a hood, and...

Zelos begun snickering, "What are with those _shoes_?"

The shoes were about two sizes too big of what they were supposed to be. Though it did not destroy the overall effect, it did make Sora look a bit childish. Namine blushed prettily and bit back a retort to her brother, her eyes focused a bit anxiously on Roxas. As she handed Sora back, she explained, "I sort of... did them on purpose. I can't help but feel they suit him." Roxas carefully took back his angel and surveyed Sora with new eyes. His mind was racing with possibilities, possibilities which flew by too fast for him grasp. This... this was the look of a champion. He was sure of it. Sora would become strong enough for the both of them. As for the shoes...

"I like it," he assured Namine. His long, thin fingers softly traced the edge of a shoe. Smiling fondly, he added to himself, "It reminds me of that angel I saw yesterday. The mouse..."

Both Namine and Zelos sat up, though the red-head looked mostly disinterested. "You're talking about the Champion," she murmured. Her gaze turned thoughtful as she looked upon Sora. "Hmm..."

Roxas, surprised that they had heard him, nodded. "Thank you very much for this," he made to stand up. "But I should go. I did not mean to disturb you for so long."

"Wait!"hastily, without looking behind her, Namine stood to stop him. Because of that, she ended up accidentally pushing the back of her chair right into the back of a passing patron- a teenager with a black beanie and white coat. The boy stumbled and ended up jostling his coffee onto his shirt.

He cried out in pain, "Gah!" Whipping around furiously, his angry glare focused upon Namine. "Watch what you're doing!"

"I'm sorry," Namine hovered apologetically, unsure of how to help. "I didn't mean to."

"Yeah, well, that's not going to do a lot to help, is it?" he growled, wiping at his blue tank-top with a napkin. Roxas was able to spot an angel upon his shoulder- a female with brown hair and blue overcoat.

"She said she was sorry," Zelos's tone was casual, but his eyes were sharp as they peered over the rim of the cup. "Let's let it go at that, shall we?"

Beanie-head straightened himself up haughtily. "A real man does not go issuing fights without an angel to back his words up," he scorned. Roxas started, realizing for the first time that Zelos was the only one here without an angel by their side. Zelos's lips went thin as he pressed them together. There was a strong desire for a retort, but something also hindered him from saying anything. Namine seemed unable to say anything as well, her blue eyes looking helplessly at her brother.

"I have an angel," Roxas's mouth formed the cold words and issued them perfectly, his eyes staring down the threat. Inwardly, he was shocked stupid that he was saying anything at all. Of all times to exercise his ability of speech! "Just what sort of trouble are you planning on backing?"

Beanie-head, now with an appropriate target in sight, smirked. "Kid, don't go throwing yourself into situations you can't handle," he warned, chuckling. Tilting his head slightly, he smiled coyly. "Or else you'll find yourself facing the promise of a duel."

A duel? He had not even been in town for forty-eight hours, had known of Angelic Layer even less than that, had not even possessed an angel for twenty-four hours, and was as of yet still unaware of even how to operate the game. Now he was facing the prospect of an immediate duel?

Zelos stood now, "Give the kid a break. He barely moved here. Do you really want to fight someone who doesn't know how to duel yet?"

Beanie-head's shoulders slumped with a clear look of disappointment. Though he said nothing, Roxas could interpret his feelings rather well: No, it wasn't worth it. Roxas wasn't worth it. What a shame. A more considering look was sent Namine's way.

That wouldn't work either. Roxas did not know Namine very well, but already he could tell that she would not be much of a fighter. Beanie-head, however, was in for a fight and Namine's very nature would lead her into accepting.

Suddenly, Roxas felt as though he couldn't take it anymore. The brightness of the daylight reminded him of that wide sky behind the glass and what it meant to him. Kratos had told him that he wasn't Roxas's jailer, because, in truth, Roxas was his own jailer. There was no room for 'Roxas the Observer' anymore. "I can take you," he cut-in adamantly. "I will manage."

Namine gave a small smile and Zelos raised his eyes exasperatedly. Beanie-head gave a wide grin. "If you say so kid," he chortled. Turning his back, he added, "Come with me downstairs and grab us a layer." He jabbed a thumb in his direction. "The name of your opponent is Seifer. Don't forget it."

Zelos twitched.

* * *

Demyx tiredly pedaled his bike down the street. Only the first day of school and already he was feeling the effects of breaking his previous sleeping cycle. Honestly, was there any good reason why a person should be up and about before noon? He added the thought to Theory #1115, which was that the world would be a much happier and peaceful place if people would be allowed to get some damned sleep! It was then that he spotted his salvation: Piffle Arena.

Piffle Arena was known for two things: its state-of-the art Angelic Layer duel centers and its wonderful variety of everything coffee.

Demyx thought that, yes, he would go for door number two.

Inhaling the rich aroma, he dreamily parked and locked his bike before heading inside, his guitar case still strapped over one shoulder. He had just received his special chocolate latte- with sprinkles- when a group coming down the stairs caught his attention.

In the lead was an arrogant looking fellow that was obviously one of those that were from uptown, but liked to act as though they were some kind of threat to society. The black beanie atop his head and the swagger said as much. Behind him, though, was Roxas, dressed in his street clothes and with a look on his face that meant he was thinking too much about something again. Following him was an annoyed looking red-head and a pretty, petite blond princess.

His heart beat against his chest as he stared at her, but loyalty made his feet head straight for Roxas. Something was going on here and nothing was allowed to happen in Bastion without Demyx knowing about it.

"Roxas," he called, catching the other boy's attention. The blond seemed surprised to see him, but had none of that awkward, resistance that Demyx so often saw in his peers. In fact, Roxas looked almost happy to see him. The thought made Demyx smile. "What's going on here, man?"

A bit of flush graced the smaller boy's cheeks. "I've been challenged to a duel," Roxas informed him in that straight-forward manner of his. The uncomfortable movement of his shoulders let Demyx know that the boy was really much more nervous than he let on. And with good reason too!

"Your first right?" Demyx blinked in surprise as the boy nodded. The guitar-player whistled. Poor guy.

"Roxas," the blond beauty spoke up. "Zelos and I will go with Seifer to get a table. Can you get the card?"

"Card?" Roxas blinked.

"You can't just take a table," Zelos explained, surprisingly patient. "You have to register with the head desk first." He made a vague motion over to a counter, where a brutish-looking blond with a cigarette was reading a newspaper. "They manage time and also turn on the power of the Layer so that the angels are able to operate. Just tell them what you need and they should give you a confirmation card."

Demyx watched as Roxas processed the information, most likely storing it for later use as well. The kid seemed to do that with new things he encountered. It was kind of weird, which made Demyx like him all the more.

"No worries," he saluted. Hooking his arm through Roxas's he added, "We're on it!"

"We?" Roxas raised an eyebrow as the two of them walked toward the counter.

Demyx nodded. "You bet ya," he declared. It was time to give Roxas an important lesson. "A man never leaves a friend's side in the midst of battle. On the layer, you might be on your own, but you won't be fighting by yourself. I'll be there to help," he glanced down, a little unsure, "if you like."

Roxas looked bewildered for a moment. "I," he started, but stopped. Then, simply, "Thank you."

Demyx's spirit was once more uplifted. "Of course!" he chirped, striding forward. "What else are friends for?"

Inwardly, Roxas wondered at his sudden ability to meet and make friends. Or, to be more exact, the sudden rate of people strewn into his path and declaring themselves to be his friends. He hoped that any future instances would be in less unusual settings.

"You used the new cloth Dad gave you, didn't you?" it wasn't really a question the way Zelos phrased it to his sister. Both were standing on the sidelines as Seifer eagerly prepared his angel. "The prototype?"

"Yes," Namine admitted with no qualms. "It just seemed... appropriate to use somehow." Her eyes closed peacefully. "You have to admit it turned out well."

"Hmm," Zelos refrained from commenting, but Namine knew that he had been impressed, despite himself. "So some sort of feminine intuition?"

"I prefer to call it 'intelligence'," Namine quipped, playfully. "Something I suppose neither of my brothers know about. How unfortunate," she sighed.

Zelos wrinkled his nose, but refrained from sticking out his tongue. Something occurred to him though. "Speaking of which," he posed the question aloud, "do you think he'll _ever_ show up?"

Namine hung her head, "Who knows."

Roxas's eyes were caught by the many duels currently going on. Crowds of people everywhere and so many fights going on at once. Were there always this many people?

As if in response to his unvoiced question, Demyx commented, "There sure are a lot of people here today. I wonder what's going on."

"It isn't always this crowded?" Roxas asked, peering around.

"I don't think so," Demyx answered in a way that reminded Roxas that his classmate was not a deus himself. And yet this same classmate had promised him his help, despite previously admitting to never having played Angelic Layer himself. The strange thing was Roxas believed that Demyx could help.

"They really do move," he whispered, catching sight of one angel dodging a particularly vicious blow.

"Only on the Layer," Demyx instructed. "An angel won't move unless you have them hooked up to the Layer. Kind of a shame, really."

The glint of a blade reminded Roxas of something that had been nagging at him. "What about the key?" he asked, remembering yesterday's match. Both of those angels and all the angels here were fighting with those strange keys, though none looked like the other. "I don't have one."

Demyx thought about it, "The keyblade- is what it's called- also only appears on the Layer. Something to do with computer programming and molecules... I don't really understand it." He glanced back, reassuringly. "But don't worry, you should be able to summon yours with no problem."

"Hmm..." the smaller teen murmured, recording the information. At the moment, it all seemed terribly complicated. His grip became a little tighter around Sora.

Upon approaching the counter, however, Roxas stepped forward to take matters into his own hands. "Excuse me?" he tried to catch the man's attention. Despite the name tag proclaiming the man's name to be "Cid" and that he was "eager to help", Roxas couldn't help but feel awkward. "I need to-"

Cid sighed and picked up a blue card from a thick stack. "Name?" he prompted.

"Um.." the teenager floundered, "Roxas."

"Opponent's name?"

"Seifer."

"Table number?"

This one Roxas didn't know. He glanced back at Demyx, who had looked back at the table with their party. Turning back, he fingered the number eight back to him.

"Eight."

"Perfect," was the final answer though Cid sounded anything but pleased. He stamped the card and handed it to Roxas. "Plug this into the computer slot and it will record your results. Enjoy your game."

"Thank you," Roxas managed to get out before he and Demyx quickly turned and headed to their table. He had been intimidated before, but it was like walking on eggshells around that man!

"Well, that's pretty cool," Demyx's happy-go-lucky voice snapped him out of his musing. "Usually you have to pay to rent a table."

"Really?" Roxas looked down at the card, already calculating where he could get the money to continue this hobby.

"Yeah." Demyx started to speculate, "Maybe they gave you a break since its your first game?"

"They would know that?" Roxas blinked in surprise.

That look from the Wonder Chef's café returned to Demyx's eyes. "Dude," he murmured seriously, "computers know everything. I'm telling you," he pointed to his own head and mouthed, "brain-washing."

A pit dropped in Roxas's stomach.

"Did you get the card?" Zelos inquired as they approached. Roxas nodded and handed him the card. Zelos started to insert it into its slot when his eyes suddenly widened. "This... is a card for an official game."

Roxas had no idea what that implicated, but got a bad feeling from the way Demyx winced and Seifer whooped.

"That must be why there are all these people," Roxas overheard Demyx mutter. "It must be an official game day and the guy at the counter just assumed that's what you wanted."

Roxas wanted to understand, but apparently his confusion continued to show on his face.

Zelos sighed and explained, "There are two types of games. Official and unofficial. Unofficial games are considered like practice games- they don't go on record. Official games, on the other hand, make up a player's status in the Angelic Layer world. Kind of like a permanent record." Then, so Roxas would really understand, "Not a smart move for someone's first try. Your record is clean right now, but your first game determines a lot. This is a pretty risky move."

Roxas wanted to explain that this was not him trying to be cocky, that instead this was just a misunderstanding,when Demyx decided to put in, "Don't worry about it. Roxas will be fine. He'll cream this guy, no problem."

Seifer only laughed, "It's fine by me if you want to put your humiliation on record. Another victory will only help mine."

Zelos looked to Roxas for the final decision and the blond felt himself nod. He was starting to become less and less confident. The red-head pushed in the card and there was no turning back.

Brother and sister took their places on the sidelines while Seifer seated himself on one end of the table in a big white chair. When Demyx started to follow Roxas to his side, however, Seifer began to protest. "What do you think you're doing?" he cried. "It's just deus and angel from this point out."

Demyx snorted, "This is the guy's first time. I'm just gonna help with the mechanics."

The idea sounded logical and Roxas was relieved when Seifer grudgingly agreed. As Roxas sat down upon his own white chair, Demyx flipped him a thumbs-up. A man didn't leave a friend's side in combat, no matter what.

It was time for the duel to commence.

* * *

Seifer settled upon his head a headgear that had a screen go across the eyes and when a button was pushed on the side, three white metal tips that looked like feathers suddenly propped up. Something glimmered across the eye screen and the table lit up, transforming into a layer. Zelos, as the stand-in referee, declared, "Enter the angels!"

Seifer stood up and held up his angel. "A knight and his lady," he declared. Swinging his arm back, he threw the doll forward. "Go Riona! The angel descends!" As the small body pierced through the column of light, it suddenly became animated. With a back-flip and a twirl, Riona landed lightly on her feet, casually flicking back strands of dark brown hair.

A tiny part inside Roxas was snickering like made. What was with this display? A poke in his side reminded him that this was not the right time. Turning to Demyx, he asked, "What was that?"

"Battle cry," Demyx shrugged. His demeanor was strangely serious, something Roxas was used to seeing only when discussing his conspiratorial theories. "You'll have to do one too. Nothing fancy for right now, but you have to at least announce your angel's name as well as the part Seifer said at the end. But first..." he grabbed hold of Roxas's own headgear and shoved it onto him. Roxas's vision suddenly turned pink from the eye screen. "You need your headgear and... let me turn it on for you..." The button on the side was pushed and Roxas felt the metal tips push up through his hair.

His gaze was suddenly focused in on the Layer surface, details of Riona becoming clearer. The layer seemed so big now! On the bottom and top of the screen were ruling measurements as well as a depiction on the left of what Sora's condition was. Numerous other options along the sides gave the impression- though Roxas didn't know it- of playing a videogame through first-person perspective.

"The screen is mind operated," Demyx's voice instructed. With Roxas's side vision cut off it was hard to see him. "You only have to think it to see what it is you need. You'll get familiar with it and your options soon enough. But no time for that now. You have to enter your angel."

"Enter?" Roxas swallowed silently.

"Throw him in," Demyx insisted.

"Right," Roxas breathed, staring down at his angel. Throw Sora? It was counter-intuitive to do so, but seeing as an angel was animated once they entered the layer, Sora should be alright. His heart was beating so hard in his ears that he swore that he could feel the doll pulsating in his hands. Feeling slightly silly, he cried, "Go Sora! The angel descends!" A swing of his arm and Sora was tossed toward the layer.

Again, that small body pierced through the column of light. However, instead of moving on his own, Sora proceeded to flop onto the ground face-down. He didn't stir.

There was a very long awkward pause.

Roxas turned to Demyx, "He's not standing."

Demyx slapped his forehead. "Of course he's not standing!" he cried. "You have to make him stand!"

"What?" Roxas staggered. How was he supposed to do that?

"Use your brain!" Demyx tried to coach, though he was growing frustrated. "Focus your brain and make him stand up! I thought everyone at least had _that _down."

"Well, not everyone does!" Roxas ground his teeth.

"I thought everyone _did,_" Demyx retorted, feeling a bit defensive.

Roxas found himself shouting, "Well, _excuse_ me for being a country hick!"

"Gentlemen," Zelos's voice cut-in pointedly. "If we could continue the game?"

Both Roxas and Demyx blushed in embarrassment and turned their attention back to the table where Sora was still becoming well-acquainted with the ground. Demyx placed a reassuring hand on Roxas's shoulder in way of an apology and Roxas cocked his head, ready to listen and thus accepting it. They continued on faultlessly.

"Just picture it," Demyx rephrased his previous command. "Picture it clearly and precisely in your mind. Sora standing up. Concentrate."

'Concentrate..' Roxas echoed in his mind as he closed his eyes. 'Concentrate.' Sora standing... but what would that look like? With his mind's eye, he drew as precise a picture as he could. Two feet on the ground, solidly encased in those two big shoes. Shoulders a bit forward with a touch of incorrect posture. Sora was just a kid, after all, and would be too laid-back and care-free. But there he would still stand tall, proud and confident. Fists clenched loosely at the side, ready but not threatening. Yes, there was Sora. The image was so concentrated in his head that Roxas was incredibly disappointed when he opened his eyes to see Sora still laying there like a doll.

"Keep concentrating," Demyx suggested, but Zelos's usual drawl cut-in.

"You have to make him get up first."

Two pairs of eyes swung over to look at the red-head. Zelos continued in his now usual lecture-mode, "No matter how strongly you want to stand or move forward, you have to first pick yourself off the ground." He raised a sleek eyebrow. "It's basic logic isn't it?"

Roxas felt the words sink in. It _was_ basic logic. Sora was stuck on the ground- stuck in place- so first he had to lift himself up. Using his own strength and no one else's. But, strangely enough, Roxas wasn't worried. Because Sora was supposed to be strong. Strong in a way he could never be.

He closed his eyes once more. 'It's ok, Sora,' he thought. 'I may be stuck as someone I don't want to be... but through you, I will gain that strength. So please... stand up..'

Standing up.

Placing your own two hands steadily against the ground and lifting up your face. Getting to your knees because you had to first crawl before you could walk. Move one foot forward- don't forget to balance. Balance was important, essential. One hand poised atop a knee and you have to push. Just as you were pushed into the world, so you must push yourself to face it. Then your hands are free and the other foot comes to join its partner. It's alright if you stagger. Remember to balance and remember your own strength. It's ok if you feel like you're going to fall. Falling reminds you of why it's so important to stand. There you are. You can lift your head and the steady feeling in your legs means you can go anywhere.

This time when Roxas opened his eyes, there was Sora standing tall- just as he had always imagined.

There... now they could move forward.

"He stood up!" cried one spectator that had stopped to watch.

"Finally!" laughed his friend. "I was starting to worry that this match will never start!"

Namine let out a breath of relief, "He did it."

"Yep," nodded Zelos. "Now, he's ready." He raised up an arm. "Now," he announced, bringing the arm down sharply, "Angelic... Fight!"

With one arch of her right hand, a keyblade shaped like a magician's staff appeared in Riona's grasp. In the next moment, she was charging forward- and quickly.

"Don't just stand there!" Demyx nudged him. "Make Sora move!"

Move? Roxas didn't really think, just focused everything he had in making Sora do what was needed.

* * *

Just as Riona stood before Sora and brought her staff around, Sora dodged quickly to the right, his dash ending in a roll. He quickly propped himself on his knees, blue eyes carefully watching for Riona's next move. Placing her weight on the ball of her right foot, she spun around sharply, driving her staff down in several sharp thrusts. While she appeared to be poetry in motion, Sora just tumbled heels over head clumsily trying to get out of the way. So far he managed to get by with only scrapes, but people observed the whole scene awkwardly.

* * *

"What are you doing?" Demyx wondered aloud, confused as anyone.

Roxas just gritted his teeth and focused.

* * *

With a desperate spring of his legs, Sora finally managed to put some distance between him and Riona. This caused Riona to lunge a little too far and she stumbled. Seizing his change, Sora quickly rose to his feet- but without a keyblade he was still at a dreadful disadvantage.

* * *

'I have to attack,' Roxas realized in frustration. 'But how?'

* * *

Riona quickly regained her footing and turned it into a lunge. Swinging back the keyblade, she swiped it forward with one hand. The blow was so fast Sora had no chance of dodging it. He was struck hard in the side. Vision going blank for a moment, he was unable to see the two extra blows coming. The blade hit him like a club, on the shoulder and on one arm. Sora, in pain, stumbled back, his mouth open in silent pain. The two big shoes tripped over one another and Sora landed down on his rump. Instinctively, he turned on his side to hug his ribs. The determined gaze still looking through those sharp, brown bangs, however, proved that he had not yet given up. If only he could get a keyblade of his own...

* * *

'Attack,' the word resounded in Roxas's head like a mantra. Unfortunately, he was still unsure of how to go about that. Every ounce of his attention was focused in on keeping Sora out of harm's way so there was no chance of turning to Demyx for help. That would waste valuable time. But Sora wouldn't last much longer. The screen in front of his eyes was flashing the numerous damage points he was suffering. 'What to do... what to do..?'

"C'mon Roxas!" Demyx suddenly cheered from his side. Roxas started. Though he could not turn to see his friend, he could almost see the wide grin he was sure the guitar player was sporting "Oops! I mean- go Sora! You can do it!"

Someone was cheering for him... how odd was that? Roxas wasn't sure what to feel. There was a twist in his stomach that echoed in his heart and he wondered if perhaps he were coming down sick.

Suddenly, Namine's voice, "You can do it, Sora! Don't give up!"

Their voices, though only two amongst a crowd, lifted his heart. Never before had his heart been so full and yet felt so light. Suddenly it wasn't just for himself that he wanted to be strong.

And that's when Roxas knew what to do.

* * *

Outside, a sleek, black motorcycle pulled into a parking space and came to a stop. The rider- clothed in black leather pants and a trim black leather jacket- stopped the engine and kicking up the brace, pulled off his helmet to reveal long, jagged red hair. Green eyes, marked by two purple marks underneath, looked up toward the balcony. No recognition came into those eyes and his brow furrowed bemusedly. "Where are those two?" he wondered aloud, pulling off his jacket to reveal a tight black shirt. The shirt was equipped with a specially made pocket in which rested a silver-haired angel. Patting the pocket reassuringly, the red-head made his way inside.

* * *

Riona was once more charging forward, her keyblade ready. To everyone's surprise, Sora stood and charged right back at her. The two were on a crash collision course, but neither one was backing down. Just as they were about to hit, Riona made a leap into the air and swung the blade so as to bash Sora on the head. Sora quickly dropped down to one knee, the blade passing harmlessly overhead. At the same time, Roxas quickly sent the full warmth in his heart and concentrated it into Sora's hand. Those feelings solidified and a golden keyblade- much like the Champion's- materialized. The summoning was so fast that Sora's keyblade took up the little remaining room between his hand and the other angel's midriff, causing it to slam right into her gut. As Riona fell limply to the floor, Sora stumbled back and once more landed on his rear.

There was silence as the damage points were quickly totaled.

Riona's energy level had dropped down to zero.

Sora still had one and a half points left.

* * *

Zelos gestured victoriously over to Roxas, "The winner!" His voice was soon drowned out by the numerous cheers. Pulling off his head gear, Roxas was amazed to see how many people had gathered around to watch the match. Luckily, he was in too much shock to feel self-conscious.

'I... I won...' the thought was bizarre to him. He gazed at Sora with wonder. 'I summoned the keyblade... and won.'

He was jolted aware as Demyx quickly engulfed him in a hug, cheering loudly in his ear, "You did it, you did it! I knew it! I knew it all along! Ha ha!" The guitar player proceeded to ruffle the smaller boy's hair with his fist, proclaiming various expressions of pride. "That was genius man! To summon the keyblade and use the momentum like that! Genius!"

"Roxas!" Namine cried, hurrying over to his side. Smiling brightly, she congratulated him. "You did it! You did it! Great job!"

Pushing one of Demyx's arms away so that he could breathe, Roxas couldn't help but smile back, "Thanks, Namine."

The girl blushed prettily.

Zelos strode over more casually. "Not bad," he commented, "for a beginner." A corner of his lips twitched upward in a playful smirk.

"Glad you think so," Roxas just shook his head. Then, carefully, he gathered Sora into his hands. Their first win. Their first step forward.

* * *

"Well, well," the red-head in leather murmured to himself, crossing his arms. He had come in time to see the finishing move of the match and had to admit that he was actually impressed. Observing his two siblings make their way over to the winner, he couldn't help but become more curious. "Who's this new kid in town? Roxas?" He glanced down at the silver-haired angel in his pocket. "Looks like things are going to get interesting. Don't you think... Riku?"

* * *

**NEXT TIME:**

_Roxas makes a new friend of Axel, the high school idol. Isn't this great, Roxas? You get to be taken under someone's wing! But, uh, what's with this strange way of practicing? And it turns out Axel isn't the only great deus Roxas catches the attention of._

_**Chapter Three**_: Fire and Land- Enter Axel and Riku!

* * *

_For Kit Kat,_

_Thanks for letting me borrow the Angelic Layer DVDs for reference,_

_and_

_for CessoResito,_

_For educating me in the way of modern coffee and making this story possible._


	3. Land and Fire Enter Axel!

_**Unto the Open Sky**_

"_As it is, there are many parts, yet one body._

_The eye cannot say to the hand, 'I have no need of you,' _

_nor again the head to the feet, 'I have no need of you.'_

_... If one member suffers, all suffer together; _

_if one member is honored, all rejoice together."_

- ESV Bible, **1 Corinthians 20-21, 26**

_**Chapter Three**_: Land and Fire- Enter Axel!

Upon the layer, stood two angels. One a trim, but fit, young man with jagged black hair and purple eyes, dressed remarkably like some sort of spy. The other was heavier built, but with muscle, and had long white hair that flowed down to his ankles. Even more intimidating was the tight leather and chains he wore. Sea-green eyes peered apathetically at the opposing angel.

Upon two great chairs raised up off the ground sat their two deus. The black-haired angel's deus was a scrawny red-head with large red eyes that peered around nervously. Across from him was the other deus, a blond with spiky hair and bored looking blue eyes. The way he sat unmoving upon his seat only made the red-head squirm more.

They were centered in a stadium packed with people. Everyone seemed to be cheering at once and their voices morphed together into a thick static that was incomprehensible. Then, when it seemed like no one could stand the tension any longer, the announcer's voice came on over the speaker system.

"Angelic... Fight!"

With the echo of the last syllable, the black-haired angel took off in what appeared to be a direct charge. His emphasis was clearly on speed as his legs became a blur from pumping so hard. With the white-haired angel still not moving, he took the advantage and began circling around Faster and faster until it looked as though it were more than one of him. The white-haired angel still hadn't moved.

Feeling the moment was right, the black-haired angel quickly summoned his keyblade- a jagged white one whose edges looked more like bunny ears. Before he could strike a blow however, one black wing emerged from the back of the white-haired angel. Unfurling it, the wing promptly smacked directly into the other doll, sending him flying backwards. Luckily landing within the boundaries of the layer, the black-haired angel stumbled to his feet.

He was too slow.

The white-haired angel took the few precious moments to materialize his own keyblade- a thick long one that appeared to be shaped more like a brutal steak-knife. Holding it before him- in one hand, nevertheless- he posed like a mighty warrior from out of medieval times. Purple eyes widened. Such a pose had meant doom for countless angels before him. Sure enough, with a flick of the white angel's hand, a bolt of energy shot forth from the blade. There was no time to dodge and the impact collided with the black angel directly, causing him to once more fly back and this time out of the layer- disqualifying him immediately.

The crowd went wild and cheered even louder. The announcer, amazed with the show himself, cried out, "And it's Sephiroth for the victory! Deus Cloud will now go on to compete in the Nationals! Can nothing stop him?"

Cloud paid no attention to the excited crowd. As his seat descended, he pulled the head gear off and attempted to straighten his ruffled blond hair. Calmly, he went and collected Sephiroth- his angel. As he pulled the doll off the layer, the single black wing disappeared along with the keyblade. He heard the announcement that he would proceed forward and felt nothing but that this was how things should be.

He had to move forward. He had to.

_Cool hands brushed his brow, trying to be reassuring but he could feel them shake. Blue eyes __peered up at the lady as she tried to explain something he couldn't understand. Where was his family?_

_ "They're gone, sweetie," the woman tried to smile, but failed. He didn't like the endearment. At the grown-up age of six, he had only allowed his mother to continue such a childish thing. A twist in his gut told him he might never hear it from his mother again. "Do you understand? They're gone."_

_ Gone where?_

His eyebrows furrowed as he frowned. That was always the problem. His memory of that time and before was nothing more than blotches, ink stains over what he should remember. It wasn't a good feeling and over the years he had grown to hate it. That hate was probably the most passionate he had ever felt in a very long time.

Then there were the lies. They had to be lies. He hadn't believed it when they had told them to him and had never come to believe them in the many years that followed.

Because there was still that face. A face he could not remember, not even vaguely. And a hand, a very small hand. He could remember holding that hand, could almost feel the small pressure of grasping it. Yet they had tried to tell him otherwise.

_"It was part of your imagination, sweetie."_

_ This was one of the last things the woman had insisted before leaving him with the new family. The smile on her face was thin as though she had been wearing it too long. There was also a harder tone in her voice._

_ "That wasn't real, darling," she had cooed. "It was just someone you made up. Just your mind playing tricks on you. Don't think about it anymore."_

His grip tightened on Sephiroth and instead of turning his gaze upon the adoring mass, he looked up instead toward the bright sky that shone through the open sky-light. That bright blue... He would keep going. All the way to the top.

And there he would find his answers.

* * *

It was the end of the school day and Roxas was deep in thought as he headed to the edge of campus. All day it had felt as though his mind were trapped in a fog and he found it hard to concentrate. When he had told Demyx, the guitar player had insisted that it was just the euphoria from winning.

Winning...

He stopped by the school's gate, the established meeting place, and used the moment to collect his thoughts. Yes, he was still getting used to the fact that he had actually achieved something for once. But he had a feeling that this wasn't the whole case.

In fact, this uneasy feeling could have something to do with that last incident that took place right after...

_The small crowd had dispersed, moving on to the games that were still going. Seifer, much to the group's surprise, had a surprisingly good sense of sportsmanship and had even shook Roxas's hand afterward. Of course, the beanie-head had immediately reassured them that such a loss was not likely to ever happen again. Roxas had better be on his toes for someday there would be a rematch. _

_ Roxas had chuckled along, inwardly hoping that the guy was kidding._

_ Then, a voice, "Well, what's this then?" Roxas had turned around to see a tall red-head in leather approaching them. Demyx let out a gasp of surprise and Roxas wondered who this was supposed to be. The man looked friendly enough and his tone was teasing. It took a moment to realize that he was addressing Namine and Zelos. "I come all this way to meet up with you two and you make me come inside to find you? How rude."_

_ Both brother and sister looked indignant. _

_ "You should talk," Namine rolled her eyes. "Do you know how long we waited for you?"_

_ "Probably taking your own sweet time," snorted Zelos. "Just what were you doing this whole __time?"_

_ The stranger raised his hands defensively. "Hey, now," he laughed. "Is that any way to talk to your beloved older brother?"_

_ Demyx suddenly spoke up, interrupting whatever retort Namine and Zelos were preparing to say, "You... you're Axel!"_

_ The red-head grinned, pleased. "Why, yes I am," he announced proudly. "And who might you be?"_

_ Suddenly Demyx's strange behavior made sense to Roxas and he took another look at the red-head. So this was the idol of their high school? He noted the silver-haired angel in the black pocket._

_ "I'm your biggest fan!" Demyx lunged forward to shake Axel by the hand. "It's such a pleasure to meet you! Roxas and I go to the same school as you."_

_ Axel, though a bit surprised by the enthused behavior, seemed to puff up even more proudly. "Is that so?" green eyes glanced down at Roxas. "Well, it's always a pleasure to meet an underclassman." This time, he turned his body so as to address Roxas directly. "I saw the last bit of your fight," Axel commented. Roxas got the strange feeling that he was being measured in some way. "You've got some skill."_

_ "Thank you," Roxas nodded, feeling a bit on edge. Something about the older teen bugged him for some reason. A kind of tension he was unused to, even in Demyx's presence. What was it..?_

_ The next question caught him by surprise, "How would you like to train sometime?"_

_ Blue eyes blinked. "What?" he stammered._

_ Axel smirked. "Call it a hunch but I really feel you've got some potential," he explained. "I'd like to see that potential become something. So how about a joint practice session?"_

_ Demyx looked about ready to faint._

_ Roxas thought about it for a moment before slowly nodding. "Yes," he said at last. "I would like that." It wouldn't hurt at any rate. And if this guy was as good as Demyx said he was, then this would be a good person to learn from. _

_ "Great," Axel gave a thumbs up. "I'll meet you after school tomorrow."_

_ Something about the eyes..._

Yes, that was probably what had been bugging Roxas all day. Demyx had been excited like nothing else and had insisted that he come along. Roxas had agreed, but couldn't help but feel anxious. So many people at one time. And what kind of person was this Axel anyway? He was the older brother of both Namine and Zelos, was Demyx's idol, was the high school celebrity, and was supposedly an amazing Angelic Layer deus as well. All of that left Roxas feeling a bit... intimidated.

But there was something more than that.

And then P.E hadn't been that wonderful either.

_A shrill whistle caught the group of boys' attention. Though this was the first day with the P.E period, they were all quite confused to see their homeroom teacher standing before them with a whistle and clipboard. Professor Raine Sage pursed her lips as though saying this wasn't where she wanted to be either. "Alright, boys," she placed her hands on her hips, a clear indication that this was the way things were going to be whether they liked it or not. "Something... unexpected came up with your previous gym teacher's schedule so I will be filling in for the day."_

_ "Unexpected?" Roxas wondered, as did his other classmates. _

_ Only Demyx didn't appear surprise. He caught Roxas's question and answered, "His wife just went into labor an hour ago. I call that unexpected."_

_ Roxas raised an eyebrow, "How would you know?" _

_ Demyx proudly jabbed a thumb toward his chest, "Because, Roxas my man, I make it my business to know everything." He stared determinedly toward a vague distance. "Otherwise it would be far too easy for hidden plots to undergo..."_

_ Shoulders sagged as Roxas sighed._

_ "According to his papers, however," Raine looked to the clipboard, "you guys are scheduled to... play a game of dodge ball. Perfect." Roxas suddenly went very, very stiff. Demyx gave him an odd look. "Ok, boys, get into two teams and let's head to the circle."_

_ "You ok?" Demyx leaned over, peering curiously at his friend's face. _

_ "Dodge ball..." Roxas gazed sorrowfully up toward the heavens. "Why?"_

_ "Huh?"_

_ The truth was that though Roxas was not especially athletic, he was not a klutz either- until it came to dodge ball. "I'm just not good at it," he explained to Demyx. "If I'm outside the circle, that's one thing, but inside..." He shifted nervously. _

_ "Oh, c'mon," Demyx cheered, clapping him on the shoulder. "It'll be fine. Besides," he flexed an arm muscle and patted it proudly, "you're dealing with a dodge ball pro." Then, catching sight of people lining up, he pulled Roxas by the arm. "Hurry! We gotta get on the same team!"_

_ In a spinning current of events, Roxas found himself on the same team as Demyx- and inside the circle. A few of the boys lining the outside barrier already had balls in their hands and were handling them with a twisted look on their face Roxas didn't like the look of. The rest stared over mockingly at the opposition. He couldn't have been the only one who noticed because his other teammates were also shifting around nervously. Only Demyx seemed to take the tension in the air as a mighty challenge. Roxas thought wryly that Demyx probably saw it as another battle among men. Whatever that meant. _

_ Ignoring- or not heeding- the sense of oncoming bloodshed, Professor Sage whistled for the game to begin. Without wasting a moment, balls went sent careening through the air. One went right away for Roxas, who found himself frozen place. Just as he expected to become the first to be hit out in the first ten seconds, an arm snaked out in front of him and caught the ball effortlessly. He barely recognized it as Demyx when the other boy sent the ball back in a beautiful curve that smacked the stupefied attacker firmly on the torso. The tall blond let out a whoop of victory and Roxas shakily thought of just hiding behind Demyx the whole time. That plan was unfortunately ruined when Demyx began to push him away and to the side._

_ "C'mon, Roxas, get moving!" Demyx nudged him, catching another ball easily before it could hit him. "You keep standing there, you're going to make yourself an easy target." He then went on to wage a one-man war of dodge ball. _

_ Roxas looked around, not liking the wide open space around him. There was nothing to protect himself with! While he was distracted, a ball came through his blind spot and hit him in the side. It didn't hurt- only stung- but the shock of it stunned Roxas. Luckily, Professor Sage whistled at him to get out of the circle. Dejectedly, he passed Demyx on the way out. The other blond looked somewhat disappointed, but gave a cheerful thumbs-up. "No worries," he called. "Leave it to me!" Roxas didn't watch as Demyx proceeded his full throttle attack, but instead crouched down and hid his head in his arms._

"Hey, hey, hey!" a voice called out to him. Roxas blinked out of his memory to see Demyx making his way over. "Sorry for the wait."

"S'ok," Roxas assured, but Demyx, fired up, continued talking hurriedly.

"Man, I'm so psyched," he gave an air- punch of excitement. "A practice session with Axel? Too cool!"

"Yeah," Roxas murmured, leaning against the school wall. He stared up at the sky. "Great."

"Aren't you excited?" Demyx cried at his lack of enthusiasm. "This is fantastic!"

"We'll see," was all Roxas said, because inwardly he had a bad feeling about the whole thing.

Seeing his uninvolved body language, Demyx sagged and his eyes turned glassy. "Do you mind that I invited myself along?" he murmured, bowing his head. He really should have figured. People always got tired of his loud and involved personality. Perhaps he should have known better than to pounce on Roxas so quickly.

Hearing the uncharacteristic question, Roxas turned to him, wide-eyed. "What are you talking about?" he nearly shouted. "Of course, you're coming!" Going by himself was out of the question! Besides, unbelievable as it was, Demyx seemed to have a calming affect on him. He just did not do well with strangers. A pit hardening in his heart, he grasped at his left arm with his right hand and pinched at the skin. He was such a coward.

His words, however, had an uplifting affect on Demyx, allowing him to reclaim his smile. Roxas really was a good kid. He was a bit worried at the way the boy always seemed so enclosed. But it was the start of a good friendship.

* * *

In the midst of yet another boring work day, Yuffie had been more than happy to answer an unexpected call. She had been surprised, but delighted, to hear that it was Namine on the other end. It had been a while since the two of them had talked and even longer since they had seen each other. Due to who the girl was, they had met only a couple of times before but Yuffie had always liked her. She liked her even more since she knew random calls on the cell phone would do nothing but irritate Leon even more.

The man was too easy, really.

"Hey, Namine!" she cheered, flipping open her phone. "How's it going?"

The other girl's voice came a little more hesitantly over the wire. "Hello, Yuffie," she greeted. "I was wondering if I may ask a favor."

Yuffie blinked. "A favor?" she echoed. "From me?" What could she do that Namine couldn't ask the Boss for?

"Yes," Namine confirmed. "I need you to get me an Angel Card."

Another blink.

"Don't you already have an Angel Card?" Yuffie asked.

"It's not for me," the other girl stammered. "It's for a friend. I need to get it to him by today."

"Today!" Yuffie leaped from her chair. Leon winced from the power of her volume, but she ignored him. "Namine, I can't get you an Angel Card so fast. Why today?"

"It has to be today," Namine insisted. "Otherwise, it won't be in time."

Yuffie grumbled as she sank back down into her seat. "Oh, alright," she gave in. "I suppose I could..."

"Don't worry," Namine assured her. "It's all perfectly within the rules. He won an official game. That means he's qualified. We're just... speeding up the process by a little bit."

Yuffie snorted as she started grabbing the paper work, "A little bit? The process of getting registered and made eligible for tournaments usually takes a couple of weeks. You know that."

"Thank you, Yuffie," was the sweet reply. "I'll email you the necessary information."

"Yeah, yeah," Yuffie shook her head as she closed the phone. Sighing, she whined, "Why me?"

"A player that doesn't have an Angel Card," Leon spoke up. So he had been listening! "I wonder who that could be."

Yuffie shrugged and sank further into her chair. "Who knows?" was her only comment. Sighing once more, she clicked a pen and stared down at the forms.

Ah, paperwork- her arch nemesis. It appears that she must do battle once more.

* * *

Namine closed her phone, looking pleased. Excited, she hurried the rest of the way to the high school gate. The sudden proposal from her brother had taken her by surprise- he usually preferred to train by himself and usually in top secret- but she liked that it gave her another opportunity to be around Roxas. So she had decided to make her way from her junior high over to the high school and tag along.

Apparently, she was just in time for Axel and Zelos had just arrived at the gate. Roxas and Demyx, it seemed, had already been waiting Greetings were exchanged all the way around before they started off for Piffle Arena. Axel and Roxas took the lead with the red-head happily carrying on a one-sided conversation for the two of them. Roxas, for some reason or other, looked unhappy though neither Demyx nor Axel seemed to notice. Awkwardly, she placed herself between them and the trailing Zelos. She never really noticed that Demyx- for all his interrupting of her eldest brother- had chosen to walk beside her.

The guitar player was currently imitating a reporter and waved an imaginary microphone in front of Roxas. His blond buddy appeared to be a bit moody and he was set on cheering him up. "So, Mr. Roxas, with one fine victory under your belt," the blond speculated, "what _are_ you going to do next?" Demyx's face was filled with childish pleasure. "Do I hear 'tournaments'? Today is the last day to sign up after all."

"Tournaments?" questioned Roxas, forgetting his troubles as his eyes went wide with curiosity. It was really rather cute.

"He's talking about the national tournaments," Axel explained with a grin. "It's a series of fights that are meant to reveal the strongest angel in the whole country."

Roxas seemed impressed and he took on a considering look.

Demyx went on, "Fight after fight after fight! Just think of all the testosterone!"

"Boys aren't the only ones that fight," Namine found herself speaking up. "There are plenty of female opponents as well."

"Ah," Demyx's face froze. "Y-yes, of course. What I meant was... uh..."

"I don't think I'm strong enough yet," Roxas unwittingly interrupted, leaving Demyx looking relieved. "I've only really just started. It might be better just to watch first."

Zelos raised an eyebrow.

"Hmm," Demyx frowned sadly, wanting to convince his friend otherwise but not knowing how. He turned to Axel, "What about you, Axel? Are you going to enter?"

"Naturally," Axel answered smoothly, without turning his head. "It wouldn't be much of a tournament without Riku and I. Ha ha!"

Roxas glanced to his side to see Riku resting in his usual pocket. Despite himself, he was honestly curious to see how good Riku was. He thought of Sora, resting peacefully in the backpack's pocket.

Zelos, meanwhile, just snorted and looked at Roxas. 'Well, it's a good thing at least that he's not getting too cocky,' he thought to himself, sparing an annoyed glance at his supposedly-older brother. 'Unlike some people. Because, really, that win was a lot of luck. He's going to need to hone in a lot more skill if he wants to be able to enter the tournaments. Maybe this practice will turn out to be useful after all.'

"Okay! Now, pay attention," Axel cheered loudly. They were inside Piffle Arena and had just reserved a table. Axel had determined that it was time to teach Roxas the technicalities of Angelic Layer. He first picked up the headgear and showed it to Roxas. "This piece of equipment picks up what you're thinking. Through this cord attached at the side," he gestured to the piece that connected the headset to the table, "those thoughts are transmitted to the angel and become motions."

Roxas, to no one's surprise, was paying close attention. "Just my thoughts?" he wondered.

Axel nodded, "It's the same idea as your brain sending waves through the body to move your arms or legs. Did you notice how it became so easy to move the angel once you started?"

Roxas blinked in surprise. That's right. He hadn't even thought about how to move Sora.

Axel smiled and continued, "It's sort of like how when you want to run or walk, you don't tell your body in detail- you just do it. Same thing here. Once your brain understands what is required of it, you don't have to tell each part of Sora how to move. If you want him to jump, he jumps. If you want him to run, he runs. Got it memorized?"

Zelos twitched.

"So I just need to think about what I want Sora to do and he'll do it," Roxas murmured thoughtfully to himself. This type of technology was amazing! "But I wonder why that works. And how does the keyblade activate?"

A bead of sweat went down the back of Axel's head. "Well," he chuckled, "that's a little more complicated." He set the headset back down. "It would be too difficult to understand."

Roxas accepted the answer- for now. His mind was already spinning with the implications of all this. Reaching out one finger, he traced the edges of the headset. "How is it you know so much of how it works, anyway?" he couldn't help but ask.

Two more beads of sweat trickled down the back of Axel's head. "Oh, well," he scratched the back of his head nervously. "That's just me. The Great Axel. Yep."

Zelos coughed.

"Anyway," Axel pushed the subject aside, "it's time we got started on my super special awesome training program!"

"That's my cue to leave," Zelos yawned. He started to walk away. "See you in a bit. I'm going to get myself something to eat." Without waiting for anyone to answer, he was gone.

Axel cocked an eyebrow. "Just what the heck does he tag along for anyway?" he murmured aloud. Roxas, who had been wondering the same thing, thought he sounded a bit rude.

"Sorry," Namine was the next to excuse herself. "But I have something I have to take care of. I'll be back in a while." Demyx watched sadly as she left, but Axel and Roxas had already moved on to preparation.

Axel, as it turned out, was born to boss people around. He had no qualms whatsoever of directing Roxas to his end of the layer and proceeded to give several instructions. Slipping on his headgear and taking Sora out the pocket, Roxas reflected that he was steadily becoming irritated. That feeling had been growing inside of him all afternoon and it annoyed him further that he couldn't determine its cause. One thing for certain was that Axel had the natural ability to get under his skin like no one he had ever met. Not that any of this reflected on the outside, no.

Roxas had lived a life of taking orders and could do it perfectly without hesitation. Axel was not the first person to order him about, so why did Roxas feel like lashing out whenever he said something? Whenever he was told to do something? He managed to hang onto his self control, but wondered if he would be able to make it through the practice like this. Gazing down at Sora in his hand, he resolved that he would. As long as he focused on training whatever skills the red-head claimed he saw, Roxas could handle anything Axel could dish out.

"So, let's get started," Axel announced. His headgear was also on and set. Roxas saw that Riku had been placed upon the layer and as the red-head proceeded to dig something out his backpack, Sora was gently placed upon the table as well. This time Roxas was able to maintain him standing with no problem. "Here we go!" Roxas looked up to see Axel pull out a boom box and setting it up beside them.

Roxas blinked, "What is that for?"

"I told you," Axel winked, holding up an instructing finger, "my super special awesome training program!" He pushed the 'play' button that started a playful, light tune that was mostly piano and reminded Roxas of the sort of music one often heard while standing in an elevator. Closing his eyes, Axel waved his fingers to the tune and hummed. He didn't seem to mind nor care that other people glanced oddly in their direction. Demyx just grinned and videotaped the action from his comfortable seat by the wall. Axel, upon seeing the camera, posed with his fingers shaped in a 'V' for victory. He then turned back to the stereo and flipped through the different tracks, emitting a reaction for each different type of music. Roxas, meanwhile, remained silent and though his mind instantly dismissed this all as nonsense, he was annoyed to find that he enjoyed watching the two. Unwittingly, some of the tension inside him eased.

Finally, it seemed that the desired track had been found and Axel, letting out a triumphant cry, let it play. A man's voice came through the speakers and with a basic drum beat in the background, set up for a simple tune. Axel, instead of just fingering along with the tune, proceeded to do a simple little dance.

Right turn.

Air punch.

Left turn.

Air punch.

Raise the arms all the way up and then bring them down sharply to the side.

Right turn- tilt.

Left turn- tilt.

Spin the arms in mini-circles before the chest while tilting backwards

Straighten and clap three times.

Axel did this a couple times before seeing that the smaller blond was only gaping at him. Giving a pointed look, he snapped, "What are you doing? Start dancing."

"Dancing?" Roxas's eyes went wide. Here? In front of everyone?

The red-head, paying no heed whatsoever to the boy's mental breakdown, nodded. "Just do as I do," he instructed. He started the music over and demonstrated the dance again.

Roxas looked down at his hands as though he had never seen them before. His arms suddenly felt incredibly heavy, as though just lifting them would be a chore. Tucking his chin down, he stiffly turned and started doing the arm motions. However, he did them much too fast and his rhythm clashed horribly with Axel's. He was both relieved and a little frightened when the red-head came over and grasped him by the shoulder.

Axel scowled and shook his head, "No, no, not you." He pointed to the Layer. "Sora." Seeing the blond just blink stupidly over at the table, he growled. "Make _Sora_ dance."

Blushing- but even more confused- Roxas hurriedly took his seat and focused his complete attention on Sora. The angel was still standing calmly before him, gazing out at him interestedly. "We'll start from the beginning again," he heard Axel say. Not daring to look at him, Roxas simply nodded. The music stopped. "Okay, from the top. ... Begin."

Again that soft, simple beat. Roxas hesitated, his memory drawing a blank. As a result, Sora simply shrugged his arms and shifted his feet awkwardly. Roxas could almost see Axel grounding his teeth, frustrated. The red-head finally gave up and placed on his own headgear. "Forget it," he dismissed, no longer looking at Roxas. "I should have figured it was too early for you." He leaned back and Riku's green eyes opened to full awareness. "Just do what you want." The music started over.

Roxas's face burned and he clenched a hand under the table. Just what kind of practice was this supposed to be? Sora, reflecting his deus's heart, slumped down in a squat and bowed his head dejectedly. The sound of tiny footfalls perked both their interests, though, and as one, Roxas and Sora turned to look over at what Axel was doing.

This was the first time either of them saw Axel and Riku interact. Axel's green eyes focused intensely and solely on Riku. And Riku... Riku was dancing. He was far more graceful than his counterpart and it occurred to Roxas that _this _was how an angel was supposed to move. Every action was perfect, with no wasted movement or pauses. Even the beat of the song was caught perfectly. Starting, Roxas realized that he had been staring and turned away in a huff.

'It's.... it's just another way for him to show off,' he thought to himself, not really believing it even as he thought it. 'He's.... he's such a jerk!' Looking back at Sora, though, he found his angel to be starring at Riku with intense concentration. 'Gah!' A thought wondered into his mind that Sora was supposed to be a reflection of his heart and if Sora was still watching, then that meant... Roxas slumped down in his chair, for once ruining his posture. 'Alright, I'll admit it.' He glanced from the graceful doll to the smirking deus. 'I'm impressed.'

* * *

Originally intending to walk past the room, Yuffie found her eye caught by Leon standing by a glass window. This caught her attention because Leon had said that he had only gone on a coffee break and Leon slacking off of work was not like him. Just what had caught his interest? Of course, Yuffie had to find out. She entered, wanting to sneak up on him, but found her attention caught by the scene through the window, which turned out to be a glass pane looking into an adjourning room.

Upon a layer, all by themselves, Beauty danced with her Beast in a graceful waltz. The angel known as Belle was wearing an exquisite miniature ballroom gown that gleamed gold. Even Beast-which was all that he was known by- looked handsome in his navy blue tux. Together, they moved in time to the music and seemed to have eyes only for each other. In his seat next to the layer, the Champion watched them fondly. His attention was solely on them, oblivious to the countless technological equipment that littered the area around him.

"What is he doing?" Yuffie breathed, almost impressed beyond words. The whole thing was just so beautiful... Like something out of a fairytale.

"Practicing," Leon answered, seemingly unsurprised by her presence.

She glanced at him sneakily, "I thought you were on a coffee break."

Leon simply pointed to the steaming mug in his hands. Pouting, Yuffie eagerly returned her attention to the ballroom scene. Her curious nature, however, would not allow her to remain silent for long.

"But is this really practicing?" she wondered aloud. "I mean, Angelic Layer is all about fighting, not dancing. How can this help?"

"I believe it's all about timing," Leon ventured a guess, actually managing to sound knowledgeable. "Music often has a predictable beat and learning how to pick up on that rhythm can probably help predict an opponent's moves."

"Hmm," Yuffie furrowed her brow, unsure. "But is that the only reason?"

"It's not," a deeper, sterner voice that certainly belonged to neither of them spoke up from behind. Startled, Leon and Yuffie whirled around to see possibly the worst person to see in this situation.

"P-professor Ansem!" Yuffie stumbled, beads of sweat rolling down the back of her head. This was not good. Of all people to catch the two of them not at their posts, it had to be the boss of all bosses, the head guy of the company himself. What luck!

Yet, to their surprise, Professor Ansem did not seem unhappy to see them there. Instead of lecturing them, he stood by Yuffie's side and stared down at the dancing angels. Yuffie took a moment to note that Professor Ansem had always been a very impressive- and very intimidating- man. Solid of build and taller even than Leon, it would take a riskier persona than hers to try and cross him. There was also something very regal about his features, something kingly about the blond beard and mustache and long hair that went down to his shoulders. Looking at it that way, it was no surprise that the man ended up as successful as he had. But the inventor of a child's toy and one of the fastest growing games of the nation? A bit harder to picture.

"Did you know," he spoke again, both Leon and Yuffie paying strict attention, "that the ability to walk is held by many scientists to be an astounding feat? The way we balance ourselves and walk upon two legs with the way we're built should have been, according to logic, impossible. Put in that sense, dancing seems even more miraculous doesn't it?"

"Y-yes, sir," Yuffie nodded, again becoming curious.

"Your theory is not off, Mr. Leon," Professor Ansem glanced at his startled employee, "and for most, it would suffice. Music is important in catching beats and learning how to move the body in a systematic pattern instead of randomized movements. But that is not the only reason. And it is not why professionals, such as the Champion, practice with music." His lips quirked, as though he wanted to smile.

"What is the other reason?" Yuffie was surprised to hear Leon ask. She glanced back at the coworker she thought she knew. When had Leon taken such an interest?

Ansem paused for a moment and they wondered if perhaps he was not going to answer. Then, at last, "When one is dancing, one has to be very aware of one's own body. You also have to be aware of different parts of your body and how they move. Music provides a media in which the body can react different parts at different times. You also have to be aware of your placement and the area around you. It is easy to become off balance and off beat if one is not careful. So, in dancing with one's angel, one becomes very aware of the angel's body and how each part reacts. Practicing deliberate, graceful motions creates more of a connection between deus and angel, allowing one to react faster, stronger, and better than one that was less aware of their angel."

"So dancing," Yuffie worded to herself, "keeps you in-sync with your angel. Hmmm..." Even though she had been working for the company for some time, it had never truly occurred to her how amazing Angelic Layer. And for one person to be aware of all that? It seemed pretty incredible to her.

"Well, good-day, Mr. Leon, Ms. Yuffie," Ansem spoke up, intruding in their thoughts, as he exited. "I hope to see you around here more."

"Yes, sir!" Yuffie saluted for some reason, then was puzzled. Around here? Did that mean he wanted them to come around to this area more often?

"C'mon," Leon tugged at her arm. "We should get to work."

Argh, work. If it weren't for munny and all the wondrous goodies one could buy with it, she would seriously wonder why she bothered. Especially with paperwork. Speaking of which, as they left the room and headed back toward their particular office, Leon gestured over to the small packet in her hands. "Are those the forms Namine wanted?" he asked.

"Yeah," she nodded, turning the packet over so as to look over the information again. "She just emailed me all the necessary information."

"So who is it for?"

She shrugged, "I don't know. Some guy named Roxas."

* * *

After completing the dance about a dozen times, Axel removed his headgear and stretched. Without glancing at either Roxas or Sora, he picked up Riku and strolled by. "I'm gonna get something to eat," he announced to no one in particular. "All this practicing makes me hungry."

Demyx stood up. "I'll come too," he called after the red-head. Turning to Roxas quickly, "I'll pick something up for you as well, ok? Maybe something in the stomach will help." Without waiting for an answer, Demyx chased after his idol.

Roxas sighed and stared back at the layer. His vision was still covered by the eye screen and he wondered vaguely why he had even kept the headgear on in the first place. All afternoon he hadn't done anything. Watching Riku had made him want to try, but he just could not bring himself to ask Sora to move like that. Eying Sora's particularly big shoes, Roxas noted wryly that it was most unlikely for Sora to move as graceful as Riku had. Despite his cynicism, blue eyes couldn't help but wander over to the stereo.

_"Roxas," his father's voice spoke sternly. His name was the only greeting he received upon the man entering his room. Looking up from his homework, Roxas saw a slip of paper from behind his __father's back and instantly knew what this was going to be about. "I thought we agreed that more time needed to be dedicated toward your studies. Pastimes are excuses for those too lazy to be productive. I have not raised you to be a lazy boy, Roxas."_

_ Speak._

_ "No, sir," he monotoned. It was not something he did to be disrespectful. Oddly enough, speaking in any other way seemed to displease his father. Far be it from him to do such a thing._

_ "I received your school's report," his father finally got to the point, bringing forth the piece of paper. "I must say I'm quite disappointed in you. Hardly any improvement from last semester." Eyes- eyes that were not the color of sky but more like the color of red earth- peered apathetically down at almost-perfect marks. Because almost perfect was still not perfect. "Just what shall we do about this?"_

_ It was a rhetorical question. His father asked a lot of those. Roxas remained silent, knowing that he was not supposed to answer and any unwanted speech would only worsen the circumstances. _

_ "Nothing to say for yourself?" was the customary answer. His father, for whatever reason, liked to believe that he gave Roxas plenty of chances to speak for himself. "Well, then, I want you coming straight home from school for the rest of the semester and studying time shall be doubled on the weekends. You obviously cannot handle distractions now, can you Roxas?"_

_ It was like a brick had been pushed down on his chest. Every word from his father pushed that brick down harder and harder. It was smothering any forming words within him and crushing their lungs, feeling their necks break, until there was nothing but a dead, sick feeling from all the corpses. _

_ "No more distractions now. Besides, what could interest such a boring child such as yourself?"_

His finger was pushing the play button before he ever really knew it. Somewhere, admist all those memories, he had gone over to Axel's side and retrieved the stereo. As the music played, he sank slowly back down to his seat and put on the headgear once more. There was Sora on the layer, now standing up and looking back at him. Waiting for him to take the lead.

"Excuse me," a deep, soft voice intoned and a strong hand was placed upon his shoulder. Startled, he looked up to see an older teenage boy with wild blond hair and eyes that were the same shade as his- that open sky blue- peering down at him the same way his father had peered down at his grades. Uninterestedly, uncaring, and unemotional. "Can I share the layer with you?" It was then that Roxas noted the way he spoke. Not at all like his father but more like... himself. Like he wasn't used to talking to someone and was not at all sure how his words would be received.

"Um..." was his stammering? What was he doing that for?

The other blond, a bit defensively, gestured toward the rest of the arena. "All the other tables are taken," he explained, his voice clear and to the point. Then, glancing at the stereo, "And I noticed you are using music. Not a lot of deuses do that."

Roxas fidgeted, despite himself. Looking around, he saw to his surprise that all the tables were indeed occupied and the room had become very full since his arrival. Seeing as no one had yet to return- he pushed away the paranoid feeling that no one was _going _to return- he saw no harm in it. "Sure," he nodded, not quite bringing himself to making eye contact. He gestured to the opposite end. "Have a seat."

"Thanks," was that same concise tone as he made his way to the seat, also not looking at Roxas. "I will not be long. I just wanted a quick practice after school."

As the stranger took his seat, Roxas noted that the school uniform was different than his. Instead of blue and white, this uniform was a nice blend of grays and red. Axel, Demyx, and Zelos all went to Nomura High and so had the same uniform as Roxas. Namine's junior high uniform was almost pure white with a blue tie. So this guy must go to school somewhere else.

As the stranger sat, he pulled his angel out of a specialized pocket on his backpack. Roxas had never seen an angel that was so big. Buff and with long silver hair, the angel was perhaps twice as tall as Sora. Probably twice as big in mass as well. Setting the angel upon the layer, the stranger settled himself upon the seat and placed his headgear on. After activating the switch, he looked to Roxas. "Will you start the music?" he intoned when Roxas failed to move.

Suddenly feeling very, very nervous, Roxas nodded, "Ah, yes." After that, there was no going back and he pressed the start button. Determined not to look foolish, he tried to recall what he saw Riku do.

Right turn.

Air punch.

Left turn.

Air punch....

Oh, but Riku's moves had been so much more complicated than Axel had shown him to do. Subtle movements of the body that Roxas couldn't remember. Sora looked like he was trying his best but the end result looked as though his arms and legs were out of his control. Watching him made Roxas dizzy and that in turn made Sora dizzy. The poor angel looked ready to fall over.

"What are you doing?" the stranger's voice broke into his concentration. Looking up from Sora, Roxas saw that the teenager was staring at him curiously. Embarrassment ate up all his words and his gaze lowered instantly to the glowing layer. He heard the stranger sigh and was honestly surprised when the voice took on an instructing tone, "You're focusing too much on the whole body. Think. What do you have to move first?"

Roxas glanced up, "Move first?" What did that mean?

"Dancing is about subtle movements," the older teen went on. "Listen to the beat and concentrate on what needs to move when. Here, I'll do it with you."

The big, limbering angel walked over to Sora. Despite Sora's wild haircut giving him some height, he still looked puny against such a giant. Roxas wondered if perhaps he shouldn't have modeled Sora so closely after himself. Waiting for the beat to start, the massive angel suddenly formed a fist and air punched it into the air. At the same time, Roxas noticed, he tilted forward and kicked back his right leg. He was then able to fall back on it and lifting his left leg, used the momentum to spin around. Meanwhile, his arms struck the air in time with the beat. Though this angel did not have Riku's grace, it too moved with no wasted movement.

Hearing the beat start again, Roxas readied Sora and prepared to dance. He saw now what the stranger meant by focusing too much on the whole. It wasn't Sora's whole body he had to move, but the more subtle things like fingers and toes. This took his concentration into a whole new area. He became more aware of his own fingers and the muscles within them. Almost feeling the blood pumping through them, he saw Sora's hands start to move in the same way. Roxas had never noticed before how much of his body moved, even when he thought he was being still.

Because humans are not still creatures. Even sitting or laying down, they breathe, fidget, twitch, scratch, sniff, and so many other actions. Sora, in turn, was not meant to be still. He wasn't just a doll that moved as Roxas pictured him to. He had a nose, hands, legs, feet, and ears. Roxas couldn't only make him run or jump.

He could also make him breathe.

As the beat started anew, Sora raised one first into the air while lifting up his right leg and moving it back. Spinning on his heel, he brought one hand down and brought the other arm up. Forming another air punch, his legs never stopped moving but kept on in rhythm of the beat. His attention was so much on Sora that he didn't notice that the two angels were moving in-sync with one another. The stranger's eyes went back to his own angel and the movements intensified. Sora, however, managed to keep up perfectly. This was where what Axel had been talking about made sense. The more Roxas became aware of Sora, the easier it became to dance and the faster he picked up on the subtle motions that were necessary.

The pulse of the music went faster and no longer were the angels following the pattern Axel had set. There was more now, more involvement of the body. Spin, twirls, tilts, kicks- the angels did them all in beat of the music and the two deuses were so focused upon keeping that rhythm that the rest of the world seemed to fade away. As the music came to an end, both angels finished perfectly and Roxas and the stranger blinked to bring back the awareness of where they were.

"I did it," Roxas murmured, surprised.

"You pick up rather fast," the stranger commented. He got to his feet and removed the headgear. Roxas was surprised to find that he was disappointed to see the teen pick up his angel. "Keep practicing and I'm sure I'll see you around."

As he moved to walk past Roxas, Roxas suddenly turned and called out, "I'm Roxas! Thanks for your help."

"I'm Cloud," the teen continued walking, only waving two fingers back at him. "I'm sure I'll see you in some tournaments real soon."

Roxas watched him go, feeling that it wasn't only Cloud's angel that was intimidating. Turning back to the layer, he looked at Sora who seemed rather pleased with himself. Roxas gave a small smile at the sight. They were getting better. What a team they made- Roxas... and Sora.

Feeling rather pleased with himself, Roxas stood and removed the headgear. Picking Sora up, he said aloud, "Let's go. I think we've done well for today."

"Aw, man," Wakka groaned as he surveyed the full arena. "Not cool, man, not cool."

"If you hadn't gotten detention," his friend, Tidus, chided, "we could have got here earlier."

"Dude," Wakka waved his hand as though to brush the comment off. "Principle Lockhart was totally tripping. It was just one measly paper airplane."

"That you flew in the hall," Tidus amended.

Wakka threw up his hands, "How was I supposed to know that it would knock off his toupee?" Suddenly smirking, he elbowed Tidus good-humoredly. "Heh, but I told you that hair couldn't have been real."

Tidus shook his head and rolled his eyes- an action that belied the fact that he had laughed hysterically upon finding out that their vain principle wore fake hair. "If only you would use your powers for good instead of evil," he pretended to sigh.

Looking back at the full arena, Wakka cracked his knuckles challengingly. "Well, how about I use my almighty brilliance to land us a table, eh?" he scanned the room, looking for a good target.

"How do you propose to do that?" asked Tidus, also looking about the room. Then, with a sudden start, "You're not planning to challenge someone for a table, are you?"

"It's the way of the world, my man," Wakka shrugged. "Survival of the fittest and all that jazz."

Tidus groaned, "But your angel is so creepy..."

Wakka glared. "What are you talking about?" he punched his friend on the arm. "My angel is the bestest best of all the best bestest!"

"It's creepy," Tidus insisted.

The taller of the two, Wakka stared down at Tidus and wondered if he could stomp down on Tidus, flatten him like the giant monster had to the city, like in that one movie. Who knew? Maybe being a flat, little pancake would change Tidus's perspective and make his see the brilliance that was Wakka.

"Anyway," the shorter blond's voice interrupted the carrot-top's reverie, "how about the kid over there?" He motioned to a table in a corner, where a small blond teenager was standing. A whole table for that one kid. Talk about being selfish. "He looks like fair game."

"Awesome," Wakka nodded and led the way. Striding proudly up to the stranger, he coughed politely to alert the other of his presence. When the kid looked up, Wakka asked, "Are you leaving? Do you mind if we use this table?"

Blue eyes blinked up confused. "I'm sorry," the boy pieced his words together. "But a... friend of mine is the one that rented it. He just went to get something to eat and should be back soon."

Feeling Tidus come up behind him, Wakka felt his confidence boost. He was not naturally a bully, but being taller and bigger than most people he knew led to the habit that he usually could get what he wanted. And this kid, who was shorter than even Tidus, looked like he could be knocked over with one shove! "Well, that's too bad," Wakka drawled slyly, placing his hands upon the inactive layer. "Because my friend here and I really want to use this here layer."

The kids' brow furrowed and he clutched at his angel a little tighter. "I told you," he insisted firmly, "I am not the one who rented the layer. You'll have to ask him about it."

"But he's not here now, is he?" Wakka pointed out, edging toward the seat on the other side. "Snooze, you lose, right?" He dipped his head and laughed boyishly. Looking back toward Roxas, he continued understandingly, "C'mon, man, do a fellow a favor.... Just tell him we bullied you. Nothing you can do about that, right? It's not hurting anybody. Just go."

Roxas drew himself up. Axel may have irritated him, but that was no excuse to forgo his feelings. The red-head had rented this table for his share of time- which was not up yet- and for someone to steal that table was just wrong. That was all there was to it. He shifted closer to his end of the layer and placed his own hand firmly upon the surface. "I'm not moving," he stated, staring the carrot-top down.

Wakka was not intimidated. Grinning again, he flopped down into the seat Axel had sat in- that Cloud had sat in- and dared to place the headset upon his own head. "Well, then there's no other choice, is there?" he leaned back and reached into his uniform jacket's inner pocket.

Tidus rolled his eyes and glanced unsympathetically at Roxas. "We tried, kid," was his only apology before taking his place by Wakka's side.

Roxas, realizing that he had gotten himself into yet another duel, sank down resignedly into his own seat. Solemnly, still staring down Wakka, he placed the headgear into place on his own head. With the push of a button, the layer lit up, ready for action. Feeling the tension, his fingers griped Sora a little tighter.

Tidus rose up an arm, calling both deuses to attention. "Enter the angels!" he cried. Then, with a slight wince, he looked at Wakka to go first.

Smirking, Wakka removed his angel from his pocket and displayed it proudly. In his hands was a little miniature version of himself. Save for the yellow overalls and blue headband, both the angel and deus were identical in features. "Behold!" Wakka cheered. "Mini-Wakka!" Roxas blinked to make sure he was seeing correctly as a bead of sweat slipped down the back of his head. Tidus just sighed and slapped his forehead. Wakka blinked up at him, "What? What is it?"

"I told you," Tidus moaned, "it's creepy."

"What is?" Wakka tilted his head. Why couldn't Tidus see how awesome Mini-Wakka was?

Tidus finally snapped, "You look exactly alike! Who _wouldn't_ be creeped out by that?"

"It's _my_ angel!" Wakka huffed. "The one that's going to be the best of all the bestest! So why would I want him to look like anything other than myself? Fighting with a stranger's face- _that's_ what's creepy!"

Poor Tidus just sighed and said, "Just enter the angel."

Returning his attention back to the layer, Wakka declared proudly, "Time for some fun in the sun! Enter Mini-Wakka!" He tossed the small doppleganger onto the layer. After passing through that wall of light, the angel awoke and did a few kick-jumps in the air as he was lowered onto the ground. "The angel descends!" Landing squarely on his feet, Mini-Wakka straightened and summoned- not a keyblade- but what appeared to be a rubber beach ball. Smirking over at Roxas, he proceeded the twirl the ball around on the tip of his index finger.

Taking a deep breath, Roxas took one last look at Sora. Still not having an entering phrase, he cried, "Go Sora!" and threw the angel onto the layer. Passing through the simmering light, Sora awoke and somersaulted himself around to face his opponent. "The angel descends!" The landing was a bit rough, Sora having to go down on one knee and a hand to support himself, but he rose with no problem. He stood proudly before the Wakka clone. Relieved, Roxas allowed himself to breathe. Well, now he knew he had the entry down. The feeling was broken, however, by a derisive snort from Tidus.

"No entry phrase yet?" the tanned teenager rose an eyebrow. "Should've known you would be a beginner."

"A newbie?" laughed Wakka. "Makes it even more appropriate that I crush you."

Roxas growled, "The fight hasn't started yet."

"True," conceded Wakka, smirking. "But it will be over soon enough."

Taking his cue, Tidus rose his arm up again and then brought it swinging down, "Angelic Fight... begin!"

Sora's first course of action was to immediately summon the keyblade. Again, from out of nowhere, came that gold metal with the silver handle. With the solid object firmly in his hand, Sora proceeded to charge. Mini-Wakka, on the other hand, did not reciprocate the action. Instead, he drew back his arm containing the beach ball and flung it forward with skilled precision. The motion caught Sora off-guard and the ball hit him squarely in the midriff. Upon impact, the ball disintegrated into a tiny amount of charged energy. The shock thrilled throughout Sora, blue eyes going wide from pain. Forced backwards, Sora stumbled but remained on his feet, clutching at his side.

'Electricity?' Roxas wondered, bewildered. How was he going to avoid that? Sitting back, he ground his teeth, thinking furiously. 'Great. Dodge ball. This day gets even better...'

"C'mon, man!" laughed Wakka from the other side. "Is that all you've got?"

Mini-Wakka summoned another beach ball in his hand and proceeded to throw it at Sora. The brown-haired angel managed to jump to the side- only to see another ball heading in his direction!

Roxas cursed under his breath, 'He can summon more than one!'

Not being able to move in time, Sora instead turn around his body position and held the keyblade before him. When he had judged that the ball had come close enough, he swung the keyblade around like a bat. The two objects made contact and this time when the ball shattered, the energy raced up the key and into Sora once more. The angel was sent tumbling backwards before landing on his back. His limbs felt fuzzy while at the same aching sorely. It made it very hard to move.

Roxas felt like slapping himself silly. 'Of course,' he mentally groaned. 'Energy and metal. That was a stupid combination.' He forced himself to focus intensely on Sora. 'But if we can't use the keyblade... what else is there?'

Sora tried charging again, straight for Mini-Wakka. The other just laughed and launched two beach balls. Sora stumbled to a halt, the balls of energy releasing themselves near his feet. Two more came a bit closer, forcing him to move backwards. Having no choice but to retreat, Sora glared over at his opponent. If only he could get close...

* * *

"I can't believe you," Axel proclaimed for the third time at his sister. Namine, walking on one side of him, tried her best to ignore him while Demyx, on his other side, videotaped the whole thing. "Emailing? Now? This is an Angelic Layer center! If you wanted to be on the computer, you could have just gone home!"

Namine frowned, "I told you. I had something important I had to do."

"And who knows where Zelos wandered off to," Axel just proceeded to grumble under his breath. Upon arriving at the snack bar, he had proceeded to chow down food testily. That Roxas.... something about him just bugged the red-head. It probably had to do with the fact that Axel hated being wrong and seeing Roxas refuse to even try did nothing to see if he had been right about the kid's potential. What was his deal, anyway? The kid was way too cut off from everything to be a normal teenager and hardly ever spoke to boot. Was probably even the type that did nothing to stand up for himself. People like that just... irked him. Extremely. Stuffing his hands into his pockets, he determined on just using up the rest of his practice time on Riku instead of wasting his time on someone who didn't care.

Demyx, watching everything through his camera lens, cradled a sandwich meant for Roxas against his chest. Axel and Riku had been amazing to watch and he was so glad to have all this footage caught on tape. But poor Roxas... The kid had been trying, he was sure. It was like there were all these obstacles in front of the kid that stopped him from moving freely. Demyx wanted to give Roxas a push, a shove in the right direction, but was afraid he'd just make the smaller teen stumble over something else. Catching sight of Namine from around Axel distracted him though. Leaning back a bit, he was able to capture a full frame of her. It was beautiful... The light from the windows streamed in and highlighted her hair, skin, and white uniform. She looked like a golden fairy... Just as Demyx pressed the photo-capture button, something caught Namine's eye enough for her to look up distressed.

"Look," she called to her brother and Roxas's friend. "Who is that at the table?"

Demyx lowered the camera in order to look. There was Roxas where they had left him, on one side of the table. But then there was someone else- a stranger- on the other side. He was still some distance away so it was hard to tell, but it looked as though there were two tiny figures moving around on top of the layer. "Is he in a fight?" he asked aloud.

"Oh, that brat!" Axel huffed. Namine and Demyx turned to him confused. Axel began to stomp towards his table. "He took advantage of my absence to fight someone else! Oh, he won't practice with me, but the minute a stranger comes along..."

"You're overreacting," Namine assured, as she tried to keep up with his long strides. Wishing once more for her brother's height, she reached into her pocket and kept a tight grip on the precious piece of paper. It was her responsibility to give it to Roxas.

They soon drew close enough to see that the opponent- whose angel looked eerily like a mini replica- was not fighting with a keyblade, but with beach balls. Sora was doing his best to avoid them, but with no clear course of action, he could only flounder. A ball soon made a lucky hit and made contact with the angel's leg. The ball burst upon and a shock engulfed the limb. Sora fell to the ground and clutched at his leg. A quick look at the tally board showed that the brunette was extremely low on points while the other angel was still at full-health.

"Electric beach balls," Axel murmured, coming to a halt. He watched the layer before him with narrowed eyes.

"Are those allowed?" Namine wondered, stopping beside him. Demyx stood beside her and immediately lifted up his camera to record the action.

Axel bit at his lip, not knowing the answer, but was spared from admitting that when someone came to stand on his other side. He glanced over to see Zelos calmly sipping at a... "Is that a milkshake?" he asked his younger brother disbelievingly.

"Is about time you guys showed up," Zelos commented over his straw, his other hand residing in a pocket.

"How did you get a milkshake?" Axel insisted. "They don't serve those here. And the nearest ice cream parlor is a block away."

Zelos shrugged, "Some girl handed it to me. After she and her friends gave me their table, she had decided that she didn't want it after all."

Axel sputtered, searching for the right reaction, and settled for glaring down the- barely- shorter red-head. Things like this always happened for Zelos. It just wasn't fair.

"Never mind that," Namine cut-in. She leaned over to look at Zelos. "Are those beach balls allowed?" If anyone would know, it would be Zelos.

Casually looking back at the fight, he answered, "Not technically. While you are allowed to fight with hands, feet, or basically any body part you can, the only weapon you're allowed is the keyblade. And while I know some people can be really creative with their keyblades," he pointed over at the cheating angel who was launching yet another beach ball, "that looks nothing like a keyblade to me."

The attention was turned toward the layer once more. Axel cursed while Namine looked distressed. Even Demyx looked upset.

Zelos continued, "However, since it's an unofficial game, the guy doesn't automatically lose. There's no one to call him on it. If Roxas had known about it, he could have said something. But now..."

Axel was about to ask him how he could know that it was an unofficial game, when Demyx spoke up, "Can't we say something? Even if it is an unofficial game, he's still cheating!" The blond looked fairly indignant on his friend's behalf. It was, after all, only Roxas's second game.

"Well, yeah, we could have him disqualified, but," Zelos frowned. "Do you really want to do that?"

"What do you mean?" Axel cried, angry himself. "Roxas is about to lose! This is the perfect time to step in!"

"Is it?" Zelos lowered his milkshake and looked his brother in the eye. "You know, he's doing this on your behalf." Seeing Axel's bemused expression, he continued, "Roxas was done for the day when those two guys tried to steal your table. When he refused to back down, they challenged him."

Axel fidgeted. "And how exactly would you know this?" he pursed his lips.

Zelos, returning to his milkshake, replied, "I was watching the whole time."

"And you didn't say anything?" both Axel and Demyx exclaimed, looking at Zelos wide-eyed. All the trouble Zelos could have prevented.... the red-head just shrugged.

"Look at him," Zelos gestured toward Roxas. For the first time, they did so- and were forced to take in what they saw. There was a fierce look of concentration in those sky-blue eyes and Roxas's mouth was tightened in determination. It was as though nothing existed off the layer- everything was between Sora and his opponent. There was no frantic looking at the statistics or fidgeting uncomfortably. Then they knew. Roxas hadn't given up yet. "I don't know Roxas very well, but the kid's got a lot of barriers. It's like he's not used to doing things for himself yet. But now he's trying. Just like yesterday, he's not sure how to move... but he knows he wants to."

_ ... What was his deal, anyway? The kid was way too cut off from everything to be a normal teenager and hardly ever spoke to boot. Was probably even the type that did nothing to stand up for himself..._

Again, Zelos looked Axel in the eye, "If Roxas wins, he wins. If Roxas loses, he loses. But whatever happens to Roxas, it will be Roxas who decides." He slurped at his drink once more. "That's what I think at least."

Axel frowned and looked at Roxas again. Zelos was right and he knew it. Whatever happened to Roxas, it would be Roxas who did it. And that was important for some reason that Axel didn't quite understand yet. But looking at that determined look, he couldn't help but smirk. He had been right about that potential after all...

* * *

'There's gotta be some way,' the thought resounded through Roxas's head and once that spark of hope was lit, he hung onto it stubbornly and unflinchingly. 'There's gotta be a way.' Every enemy had its weakness and Roxas was sure that if he could just...

Another ball came agonizingly close to Sora and it was getting to the point that not many more points could be lost. Sora, who kept getting up, despite being hit innumerable times, each time standing upon his feet, holding the keyblade before him. It reminded him of this afternoon's session of dodge ball, with him in the middle of the circle with no where to run and no where to hide. He knew no matter how he moved, the ball would just-

_"C'mon, Roxas, get moving!" Demyx nudged him, catching another ball easily before it could hit him. "You keep standing there, you're going to make yourself an easy target._"

Target...

Blue eyes flashed with a new epiphany.

That was it!

Mini-Wakka watched, confused, as Sora suddenly took off for the far left of the layer. Figuring that he was just trying to get away, Mini-Wakka summoned another Electro-Beach Ball. Before he could throw it, however, Sora just as quickly turned on his heel and headed for the far right. Then, just as quickly, he spun around again for the left. He was zig-zagging his way toward Mini-Wakka. Catching on, the carrot-top angel scowled.

"It doesn't matter how fast you are," Wakka warned. "I'll still catch you!"

Roxas said nothing, just kept his eyes on Sora.

To prove his point, Mini-Wakka launched the ball toward where he determined Sora would be. Sure enough, the ball was aiming right for Sora's feet. The other angel didn't hesitate. Instead, he swept his foot back and used it to propel him forward, like in a skip. It was when he landed that things got weird.

Sora kept moving- everywhere. Not one part of him was still. His legs were still running, but he began moving his body side to side. The feet no longer went one in front of the other, but sometimes went to the side or to back only to hop forward. Arms were spread out to the side and moved in time so as to keep his balance. People grew dizzy just watching him. Only the eyes- those sky blue eyes- remained focus, constantly coming to rest upon his opponent.

"What is he doing?" Tidus blinked.

Beside him, Wakka was growing frustrated. All that motion... it was making it hard to concentrate. And the squirt was fast too.

Mini-Wakka summoned another Electro-Beach Ball and tried to aim it. Every time he tried, though, Sora would move yet again, either some part of him or all of him in particular. He was no longer the solid target he had made of himself before. Desperate, Mini-Wakka just started flinging balls in Sora's general direction, hoping at least some would find the mark. Instead of panicking or floundering, as he had hoped the angel would do, Sora moved faster. Mini-Wakka began throwing more and more balls as he began to notice that Sora was moving closer. Unknowingly, even as he flung the balls forward, his feet were retreating backwards.

Sora, on the other hand, wasn't trying to get as close as the other angel feared. Instead, Sora watched carefully as Mini-Wakka stretched back his body and arms so as to throw a ball harder and faster. Right before the release, Sora came to a halt and with one hand swung the keyblade tight against his side. Just as the other angel began to move so as to let go, he swung the keyblade back around- and let go. The keyblade spun itself around like a boomerang. Normally, it would have been too heavy to really go anywhere. But Sora had positioned himself in the perfect spot; the keyblade swung around right into Mini-Wakka's abdomen. Then it showed that Sora was not only positioned perfectly, but he had put Mini-Wakka in the right place too. The force knocked the angel backwards... and off the last few inches of the layer. Inanimate, Mini-Wakka landed limply at the feet of his deus.

"And Sora wins!" came Zelos's voice, Tidus too busy staring to remember his duty as temporary referee. The sound jarred Roxas out of his concentrated stupor, making him look from the layer for the first time. Now free to interact, Demyx (his camera lens focused intensely on Roxas's sheepish face) and Namine (beaming) ran over to congratulate him. Removing the headgear, he was surprised to see Axel- looking surprisingly smug- also come over. Green eyes focused in on him and for once, there wasn't that tension. Roxas couldn't help but respond to all of their smiles.

Zelos strolled over lazily, flickering a challenging glance Wakka's way as though to daring him to denounce the outcome of the game. To his credit, the carrot-top didn't. Instead he sadly picked up Mini-Wakka and resolved that the better man had won. Removing his headgear, he called over to Roxas's attention, "Hey, kid!" Blue eyes flickered his way and he gave a thumbs up. "Nice going." Awkwardly, and a little flustered, Roxas smiled and repeated the gesture. There were no hard feelings as Wakka and Tidus dutifully gave up their challenge on the table.

"It took awhile," Tidus commented as they walked away, "but he eventually got it, yeah?"

"Yeah," Wakka nodded, half-listening. He was staring down at Mini-Wakka, his mind racing with possibilities. "The kid wasn't half bad at all..."

"So," was the first thing Axel said. Roxas was ready for anything at this point, even a bit of scolding for his intolerant behavior earlier. "Looks like the practice helped." No sarcasm or insincerity. Axel was curious.

"Yeah," Roxas admitted. Feeling braver, he added, "It just... took a while for me to get what you were trying to say."

"Ah," Axel smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his hand. The motion inadvertently drew attention to Riku, still in the pocket. "About that... I'm not always good at saying what I mean, you know? Guess I'm a bit of an idiot that way. Ha ha!"

Chuckling despite himself, Roxas just shook his head. "Nah," he refuted. "I'm just not that good at listening."

The statement caught Axel by surprise for a moment. Laughing, he gave a thumbs up and winked. "What do you say we give this another try the, eh?" he suggested. He pulled Riku out of his pocket with one hand and put forth the other. "I'm Axel. And this... is Riku."

Following his example, Roxas took hold of Sora and grasped Axel's hand, shaking it firmly. "I'm Roxas," he declared, staring into those focused green eyes. "And this is Sora."

Demyx caught the whole moment on tape, so excited he could hardly stand it. "And thus," he cried, "a declaration of friendship is born!"

Both Axel and Roxas laughed. Namine, summoning up her own courage, withdrew the card from her hand. "You deserve a prize after all this, Roxas," she said, handing it to him. "Maybe this will do?"

"What is it?" he asked, before taking in the writing. "An angel card?"

"Nice!" chirped Demyx, finally lowering his camera. He leaned over Roxas's shoulder to get a closer look. "You need one of those to be an official deus." Then he frowned with a bit of confusion. "But it usually takes a few weeks to get those. What with the paperwork and all." He looked to Namine. "How did you get one so fast?"

"Oh," Namine chuckled nervously. "I have ways."

Demyx ended up shrugging it off as an unimportant detail. Turning back to Roxas, he wrapped an arm around the shorter teen's shoulders and explained, "With this, you can now officially enter tournaments!"

Now things seemed like they were going a little too fast. "Tournaments?" Roxas blinked. He couldn't enter tournaments yet! "But I'm not ready!"

"It might actually not be a bad idea," Zelos finally spoke up. Attention turned toward him as he continued, "It's a good way to gain experience and to establish yourself. Especially since it's the Nationals coming up." Neither he nor Axel seemed much surprise at the sight of the card. Glancing at his sister, he asked, "Is his first win recorded on there?"

"Of course," Namine nodded.

"That's in a week, isn't it?" Demyx wondered aloud, before looking back down at Roxas. The little guy seemed a bit stunned. "What do you think?"

Roxas's hands gripped the card a little tighter as though asserting to himself that it was real. "But I," he murmured, "I have no idea how good I am. What if I lose?"

"What if you win?" Demyx pointed out, ever the devil's advocate. "This is your chance to find out!"

"But a tournament!" Roxas exclaimed. "Shouldn't I practice more?"

"You have next week to practice," Axel soothed. "And we can work together. I'll help." He smiled. "A lot better than this time, I promise."

"Think of it like getting in a pool," Zelos's tone was provoking, as though trying to get him on edge. "Are you just going to dip your toes and think about it? Or dive in?"

Looking down at Sora, Roxas wondered. In his mind, Zelos's metaphor developed into a picture. He could picture himself, there on the rim, barely daring to put his feet in because who knew what it would be like and if he would regret it? Then, in that same picture, he could picture Sora running past him, leaping fearlessly into the water, letting out a cry of joy as he did so. A snapshot stayed in his mind. Of Sora still in midair, about to enter the water, and there was that blue sky framed brilliantly, perfectly behind him.

That night he really felt the absence of a parental presence. It was an odd feeling, much like being pushed out into space and being expected to know what to respond. Because he wanted to ask someone, ask someone what he should do and know that they would answer based on what they thought was best. He didn't miss his father, not at all. Had no desire for him to be there. The one perk to this predicament was that if he had still been under his father's thumb, he knew the answer would have been an immediate "no" along with much reorganizing of "priorities". Then again, if he had still been under his father's influence, he never would have gotten the chance to encounter Angelic Layer so that was a moot hypothetical question anyway. Still, it forced him to act out in the next best way in that he asked Kratos.

Upon returning home after that first day, he had discovered that the man had actually managed to get a good deal of grocery shopping done and the cupboards now reflected that someone actually lived in the house. Dinner was just a simple home-cooked meal with the two of them sitting together quietly, not out of any prearrangement, but more in that they just happened to end up that way. (Sora also sat upon the table, but no one really took any notice that he was there.) The same thing was repeated that night except this time he could hardly bring himself to eat. Demyx and the siblings had parted ways with him at the Arena, leaving him to make his decision on his own. He could have sworn that the card was pressing into him through the pocket as though forcing the issue to stay on his mind. Finally, the words just came tumbling out, "Would it be alright if I enter an Angelic Layer tournament?"

Kratos had blinked at him and that pause made Roxas think- several times over- of just how big an idiot he was. Looking back at his plate, he silently prayed that the man would just let the question pass as the idiocy it was and not ever mention it again. His wish was not granted when Kratos answered, "I am not your father, Master Roxas."

Scrunching down further in his seat, Roxas picked at his food with the fork. "I know," was the obvious answer, but after saying it all other words left him. "I just... uh..."

"Living on one's own is a big responsibility," Kratos went on, turning back to his own food. "One must be prepared to make decisions and follow through with them. And take the consequences- good and bad- that follow." Slyly, he glanced back up at Roxas, who was looking at him in amazement. "Does that help at all, Master Roxas?"

"Oh," Roxas was startled back into himself. He felt almost light-headed. "Yes. Yes, it does."

On the National Tournament's website, it told him that it was the Preliminaries that started next week. Underneath was a form to fill out to enter. The last blank slot was to enter in the card's identification number. Pulling Namine's gift out of his pocket, he carefully typed in the thirteen digits. Then, with a slow exhale, Roxas entered and sent the information. In the morning, when he checked his email, he got the confirmation.

Sora was entered into his first tournament.

* * *

**NEXT TIME:**

_ It's good to be social and gain some new experiences as Roxas finds out the first day of the tournament! So many people! So many lights! Oh, the excitement of it all! It's enough to make you sick from nerves, isn't it? Axel gets to show off his brilliance during his battle, but how about Roxas? Will he remain cool under pressure? Of course he can! Sora's counting on you, Roxas!_

_**Chapter Four:**_ Tournament- Sora's Debut!

* * *

_For Prof. Steffen,_

_Who, unknowingly, provided this chapter's quote. _


End file.
